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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650980">Moonlighter</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlymildlyinfatuated/pseuds/onlymildlyinfatuated'>onlymildlyinfatuated</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Boyz (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Romance, M/M, Mention of guns, Mercenaries, Mild descriptions of violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, plot heavy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 21:28:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,852</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29650980</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlymildlyinfatuated/pseuds/onlymildlyinfatuated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Almost unbelievably, Jacob continues to somehow run into rival agent Kevin Moon. Their <em>numerous</em> encounters shouldn’t mean anything and yet neither can deny the kindling fire between them. </p><p>When Jacob’s organization pursues a mission from a mysterious group, Jacob finds himself closer to Kevin than either of them could believe. </p><p> </p><p>  <em>In this profession, you don’t often meet someone who’s your exact type that also knows exactly how your life is. </em></p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bae Joonyoung | Jacob/Moon Hyungseo | Kevin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Killer with ma style</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Posting this for our moonlight boy Kevin's birthday! This is my first multichapter fic, so I'm still figuring things out a little. I definitely will be figuring out the best way to tag things so please let me know if there's something I miss!</p><p>I'll add that while there will be some predictable amount of violence occurring in a AU w/ mercenaries, I intend to keep the descriptions pretty mild and straightforward; I'm not going into gratuitous detail about anything bloody. That being said, please let me know if I have to add further tags or additional warnings.</p><p>Anyways, happy reading!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>Darkness conceals his movements, blanketing his quiet steps through the office building. As Juyeon had told him, only security guards should be here and the ones he saw have zero idea of his presence here. The low security is a front for what is hidden in this derelict office building and Jacob isn’t too concerned about getting caught; his organization does a good job of hiding their plans and they know for a fact that the gang they’re targeting has no idea they know of this place. </p><p>“Found the room,” Jacob whispers into his earpiece, and he receives an affirmative hum from Sunwoo who is tracking his movements. Jacob memorized the map of the building beforehand but confirmation that he found the right office room with the hidden door is always nice. He taps against the panels of the wall in the unassuming space and when one of the panels gives, Jacob huffs in amusement. Easy. </p><p>The hidden door leads to a closet space that’s lined with shelves filled with various boxes and manila folders. It’s a mess of stuff and to the unassuming, full of useless things. But Jacob knows what he’s here for and finds the plain leather records book in a dusty steel box he lockpicks in seconds. He tucks it into the pack on his chest and quickly makes his way out of the hidden room and back into the small office. He closes things quickly, erasing any signs of disturbance, and leaves. </p><p>“Got it, heading out,” and he can’t help but smile at the small “Woop!” from Sunwoo. Retrieve missions like this tend to be fast so Jacob is pretty happy with how things are going so far. </p><p> </p><p>It’s thinking like that that always ruins him. </p><p> </p><p>As he’s passing through the open office space, he hears what sounds like a chair spinning. He freezes immediately and presses himself into the shadows of a cubicle divider. Slowly, he pulls his handgun out, watching closely for any more movement. When there isn’t any more sound for a long pause, he carefully moves from his hiding place and returns to his way out of the building. </p><p> </p><p>His only warning is the sound of fabric moving—but it’s enough. He ducks just as a fist strikes where his head was and he’s prepared for the attempted hit with the butt of a handgun. He pushes it away and jumps away from his assailant, turning around and aiming his gun. His assailant does the same and for a second they’re both aiming at each other. </p><p>“Oh god,” he groans in annoyance, the hand holding his gun immediately dropping to his side. He knows this person. They recognize him at the same time and let out a disbelieving laugh. </p><p>“Now now, Jakey, I expect a little more enthusiasm whenever we manage to meet!” He says with a pout on his face and Jacob’s worst nightmare stands before him. </p><p>Kevin Moon, a sniper from another rival organization—and apparently sometimes just a general agent—grins cheekily at Jacob. Considering their profession, he and the lithe man have run into each other a shocking amount. It’s always been a combination of Kevin out to snipe someone and Jacob doing something related to the target so, with no one here to kill, he’s not sure why Kevin is here. He doesn’t see any sniper rifle on Kevin either. Rather, the man is wearing something similar to Jacob: a utility belt, some guards on his knees, and sturdy boots. He’s probably got some type of armor hidden but ultimately, they both dressed for stealth, and with little intention to fight.  </p><p>“What the hell are you doing here,” Jacob asks, tense and wary. When Kevin steps back and smiles, feline and sultry, Jacob automatically knows he’s going to be here longer than he anticipated. </p><p>“I was available,” is Kevin’s vague answer and he twirls his handgun, jutting a hip out, almost looking bored. It’s an act and Jacob is on edge. </p><p>“Let me reword my question. What are you here for?” Jacob grips his handgun as he says this. Kevin eyes it and runs a gloved-hand through his ink-black hair, maintaining his air of detachment. </p><p> </p><p>Jacob is a talented man, strong and brutal, and good at his job. </p><p> </p><p>He is also just a man, and Kevin is wearing tight pants and a skin-tight turtleneck, and despite the slight bulk from hidden armor, he still looks like a model with a cinched waist. The long line of his legs and a hint of lean muscle on his arms glow from the moonlight cast through the windows. </p><p>The cat-like man eyes Jacob, his eyes narrowing, and he twists his body <em> just so </em> to sheath his gun. He holds his hands up in a placating gesture, his thin lips quirking into an intoxicating smirk. </p><p>“I’m looking for a records book. Seeing as you’re already on your way out, I assume you got it?” Kevin tilts his head coyly, his bangs slightly falling into his face. It’s frustrating that he knows he’s attractive. Jacob stays silent, clenching his jaw. After a beat of silence, Kevin sighs and stands straight, dropping his arms to his side. </p><p>“If you already got it, then that’s all I need to know. I promise I won’t try to steal it either,” and he looks up through his lashes, blinking them ridiculously, his smile almost shy. It’s an absurd gesture and the situation is absurd and Jacob can only laugh, shaking his head, finally sheathing his handgun. Kevin’s brows furrow at his chuckling. </p><p>Jacob’s worst secret is that Kevin is the only person who has ever managed to catch him off guard. When they first ran into each other a year ago, Jacob was so thrown off by how attractive the man was that Kevin managed to pick-pocket his handgun and a flash drive off of him when he pressed up close to Jacob and almost kissed him. Jacob was extremely lucky Kevin grabbed one of the fake flash drives but nonetheless, it was one of his most shameful moments.</p><p>Kevin has attempted that multiple times now, though Jacob never lets him repeat his pickpocketing success. The baffling thing is that sometimes Kevin isn’t even trying to take something from him. </p><p>He just. Flirts with Jacob. Every time, actually. </p><p>He’s pretty sure Kevin just finds joy in teasing him now, probably sees his effect on Jacob. It’s embarrassing and Jacob hates to admit that he finds it kind of fun. </p><p> </p><p>In this profession, you don’t often meet someone who’s your exact type that also knows exactly how your life is. </p><p> </p><p>“Jakey, you can talk out loud, I already cut your coms,” Kevin <em> pouts </em> then and Jacob flinches, reaching up to the cord of his earpiece and finding it severed. </p><p>“Kevin, you fucker,“ Jacob seethes and Kevin smiles suddenly. It almost feels genuine, his eyes crinkling, the shy smile he has. Jacob feels something pull in his stomach but he quickly reminds himself that they’re currently on opposing sides. The other man shifts where he’s standing, relaxing and resting his hand on his hip. </p><p>“I was wondering if you remembered my name,” Kevin says a little softly, only confusing Jacob more. But Jacob doesn’t have time to think this over; with his communication cut, his team is likely freaking out and he needs to get out of here. </p><p>“I have the records book,” Jacob says, a little bolder knowing his team can’t hear him. Kevin’s face becomes solemn and he cocks his head slightly. </p><p>“Jake, you know I can’t just take your word for it,” and it’s an obvious ploy to try to steal it from him so Jacob just rolls his eyes. Kevin’s eyes narrow. </p><p>“Well, you’ll have to take my word for it,” he shrugs, nonchalant, and starts to make his way to the exit. </p><p>Jacob has to pass by Kevin to leave; he reacts fast enough when the taller goes to grab his wrist. </p><p>He twists Kevin’s arm and contorts them so his back is pressed to Jacob’s chest, slightly bent over to constrict any movement Kevin could try. Jacob notices that Kevin doesn’t fight back at all and his suspicions are confirmed when Kevin grinds his ass onto Jacob’s crotch. </p><p>“You-” he hisses. </p><p>“I promise I won’t take it. Just let me confirm that you have it,” Kevin turns his head slightly, his voice low with a slight strain. Jacob’s arm is around the other’s torso and he feels fingers dance lightly across his forearm. </p><p>Jacob releases him and tries to push him away from himself but Kevin has his arm in a harsh grip and he twists around so he’s facing Jacob. </p><p>The look in Kevin’s eyes freezes him. They’re fire, aimed at him. </p><p>All Kevin needs is Jacob’s second of paralysis and then he’s twisting them around, crowding Jacob up against a cubicle wall. Kevin has both of Jacob’s wrists in his hands and Jacob is ready to fight his way out of this when once again, Kevin throws him off. </p><p>“Listen,” Kevin leans in close, his breath brushing against Jacob’s neck as he turns his face away, gritting his teeth. “May I propose something?” And Kevin guides Jacob’s hands to rest on his waist. </p><p>“What are you-”</p><p>“Listen to me.” Kevin’s voice is a little strained and Jacob looks at him now. Millions of ways to get out of this situation fizzle out of Jacob’s mind as Kevin looks into his eyes. There’s some desperation, some fight. And something else. </p><p> </p><p>“I want to kiss you,” is absolutely the last thing Jacob could ever think Kevin would say to him. </p><p> </p><p>His hands, still around Jacob’s wrists and holding them to his waist, are slightly trembling. Kevin is blushing and he finally looks away, biting his lip. Close up, Jacob notices a mole under his left eye. Kevin slowly presses closer to Jacob, and without thinking, he spreads his thighs so Kevin can press himself closer. </p><p>A year of running into each other and flirting despite the tension seems to have amounted to the two of them slowly orbiting towards each other, bound to crash in a fiery blaze. </p><p>Jacob should be fighting the hand that raises up and gently cups his jaw and yet. The man in front of him is beautiful and when he leans in, Jacob squeezes his hands, still on Kevin’s waist. </p><p>Kevin surprises him further as he pulls his earpiece out from his ear with his other hand. He wets his narrow lips and Jacob’s eyes follow the path of his tongue. </p><p>“Please?” Kevin asks softly, the hand on Jacob's jaw still gentle. His thumb brushes across his cheekbone and both of them stare into each other’s eyes. </p><p> </p><p>Jacob decides they don’t have time to draw this out. </p><p> </p><p>He moves his right hand from Kevin’s waist and roughly slides it up his back to cup the back of his slender neck. Jacob doesn’t have to push at all, Kevin already eagerly leaning in. </p><p>Their initial closed mouth kiss quickly descends to open-mouthed kisses. It’s a little rough; Kevin nips Jacob’s bottom lip and Jacob retaliates by pushing his tongue in. Kevin has both hands on Jacob’s jaw now, his grip still gentle. When Jacob pulls Kevin even closer to himself, Kevin readjusts and slides his hands down, landing on his chest. </p><p>They part for a moment, both of them catching their breaths. Kevin presses his forehead to his, and Jacob is a little starstruck by the smile he sees.</p><p>“Thanks, Jacob,” he whispers, his eyes crinkling. Jacob doesn’t have time to respond because Kevin is leaning in again, tilting his head to kiss him. This time, they go a little slower. When Jacob sucks on Kevin’s tongue, he moans softly, melting a little more into Jacob’s arms. After a gentle nip on Jacob’s plush bottom lip, Kevin pulls back, his chest heaving a little. When Jacob tries to kiss him again, he turns his head slightly. </p><p>“We need to go,” Kevin whispers, the hand on his chest clenching the fabric of Jacob’s top. </p><p>He’s probably losing his mind a little but at this moment, he can’t bring himself to care about propriety and allegiances. Jacob, feeling confident as Kevin seems completely pliant in his arms, slides a hand from his slender waist down to roughly cup his ass. </p><p>Kevin jumps with a gasp. He pauses, then leans back slightly, eyeing Jacob. The moonlight illuminates his face and his lips are shiny with spit; the feline smirk that grows on his face is a little intoxicating. </p><p>“Getting handsy now, are we, Jakey?” Kevin slips a finger under one of the straps on Jacob’s shoulder. He leans forward again and accents the peck to his lips with the snap of the strap against his chest. “While I’m more than happy you appear to enjoy the assets,” Kevin’s smirk morphs into something softer. “Time continues on. We both have places to be.” He brings one hand up to gently cup his jaw again. “Thank you for indulging me, Jacob.” </p><p>Jacob isn’t sure how to process the look in Kevin’s eyes. He can’t help but want to mend the sadness he sees there and he opens his mouth to start saying something when Kevin presses his thumb against Jacob’s bottom lip, stopping him. Kevin’s expression morphs into something mischievous and he suddenly leans close to Jacob’s ear. </p><p>“As thanks, I’ll let you in on the recent intel we have on this gang.” Jacob blinks in shock, and his eyes widen as Kevin whispers into his ear. </p><p>When he pulls back and meets Jacob’s eyes again, he winks. “I imagine that’ll be helpful.” Kevin’s other hand, still on his chest, slides, and presses directly onto the records book in Jacob’s pack. He quickly jumps back then, Jacob’s hands slipping off Kevin’s graceful body.</p><p>“And I got what I came for,” Kevin sing-songs with a wicked smirk, dancing away from Jacob. </p><p>He knows it’s an act. But Kevin has signaled that they’ve fallen back into their roles. With a sigh, he lazily pulls his handgun back out. </p><p>“Get outta my sight, Moon.” He calls out, waving the weapon in Kevin’s general direction; he replies with a twinkling laugh. When Jacob is about to turn the corner for his exit, he turns to watch Kevin climb out a window at the end of the hallway. Right before he jumps out, seated on the windowsill, he looks back over his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>For a moment, time stops. They both stare at each other, the distance between them haunting. </p><p> </p><p>The chances of them running into each other again is always slim. While it’s frankly outrageous how many times they’ve run into each other, they’re still operating on luck. They may have gotten overconfident that they’ll meet again, but the reality is that this could be the last time they see each other.</p><p> </p><p>He is so glad he got to kiss Kevin. </p><p> </p><p>Jacob’s best nightmare is a silhouette in the window, framed by the full moon. Kevin lifts a hand and with a small wave, disappears into the night.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you for getting to the end of this! Please let me know how you liked the first chapter to this fic! I can't guarantee a posting schedule quite yet but I'll say I can get a new chapter up at least once a week. </p><p>I have to tell ya, the chapter title is Kev's line from Shine Shine and it was so funny to me for some reason and  I couldn't help myself. Also, Shine Shine seems unironically perfect for this fic!  </p><p>Thanks again for reading! And Happy Birthday Kev!</p><p>Find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">twitter!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Stay On My Mind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jacob has some explaining to do.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A pretty short update! The "original" chapter 2 ended up being waaaay longer than I anticipated so I cut it up into two sections. So chp 3 should be a quick update. I'm still getting used to writing multi-chapter haha... Hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>“What the <em> fuck </em> happened?!” Sunwoo yells as soon as Jacob jumps into their get-away truck. He doesn’t initially answer Sunwoo; instead, he focuses on pulling off his broken earpiece and taking off some of the bulk he’s wearing. Changmin starts driving, joining in on Sunwoo’s yelling. </p>
<p>“We just heard lots of movement and then you cut out completely,” Changmin’s knuckles are white on the steering wheel and Jacob feels bad for worrying his teammates. With a sigh, he hands Sunwoo the severed earpiece wire and sits down, pulling out the records book. </p>
<p>“Kevin Moon was in there.” He says simply and Sunwoo and Changmin gasp. </p>
<p>Jacob hasn’t divulged the exact details of his interactions with Kevin to any of his teammates. He tells them when they meet so they all know about the absurd amount of times this has happened but he never mentions the flirting they do. Sangyeon is the only one who has a vague idea of it after Jacob drunkenly complained about how pretty Kevin is after their eighth encounter. </p>
<p>When he tosses the records book to Sunwoo, his teammate doesn’t even look at it; instead, he aims his focus at Jacob. </p>
<p>“You met him <em> again? </em> Seriously? How the fuck does he keep running into you?” Sunwoo rants, alternating between annoyance and disbelief. “His org must be tracking us or something. How else does this keep happening?” It’s a fair question, but as far as they know, Kevin is the only one from his organization, EN-Network, that has crossed paths with one of their agents. And Jacob is that one agent from their organization, Creaker. </p>
<p>Usually, Jacob would entertain the idea that the rival organization was tracking their movements but with the whispered intel Kevin shared, Jacob actually has an answer. </p>
<p>“EN-Net has also been targeting the Sun Corporation.” Jacob’s statement is met with silence. He prepares for the onslaught of noise. </p>
<p>“How do you-” </p>
<p>“What the fuck does that mean-” </p>
<p>Changmin and Sunwoo start yelling at the same time and Jacob sighs. He presses his palms to his eyes and sinks deeper into the car seat, already exhausted by the shitstorm he has in store. “Kevin told me himself. He told me more but I’m going to wait till we get back to base so I don’t have to repeat myself.” His two teammates groan but accept it, understanding they have five other people who need to hear the information. In the interim, Sunwoo decides to grill Jacob. </p>
<p>He holds up the severed earpiece. “How did this happen?” Jacob side-eyes Sunwoo and sighs again. </p>
<p>“Jumped me from behind, he got close enough to do,” Jacob waves towards the broken technology. “That,” he finishes, and sinks lower into the car seat, realizing that it doesn’t sound great that a rival agent got that much leverage over him. Sunwoo stares at Jacob in disbelief then groans in response as he starts taking apart the device. </p>
<p>“He must be their best agent or something,” Sunwoo mutters. Their multi-talented tech guy tosses the severed cord over his shoulder and begins searching for a replacement. “Can’t believe a guy going by ‘Moonlighter’ is giving us a run for our money!”</p>
<p>Jacob chuckles at Kevin’s pseudonym. That’s all they knew him by for months, and Jacob only eked out his name after hearing it through the dark-haired man’s earpiece. Kevin learned Jacob’s name in the same manner. </p>
<p>It’s telling that they learned the other’s name by getting close enough to hear their comms. </p>
<p>As Sunwoo shuffles through his bag of supplies, Changmin decides to join the interrogation. “You were MIA for 19 minutes, Jacob. What happened?” They make eye contact through the rear-view mirror. Jacob squirms a little. </p>
<p>“He likes to waste my time.” It’s not exactly a lie, but Jacob still feels himself tense up a bit. He’s not about to tell them he apparently spent at least 10 minutes making out with the enemy because he felt like they have something. As he says that though, he realizes something. He sits up straight and looks at Sunwoo, a little frantic. “If he got past you, and I don’t know if he came with anyone else,” he starts saying and Sunwoo comes to the same realization. </p>
<p>“He may have been wasting your time for a reason,” Sunwoo gasps. They both look grimly at each other and Jacob groans, placing his head in his hands. </p>
<p>“Fuck.” He leans forward, quickly growing frustrated with himself. They know that the building was nearly useless except for the records book but they can’t rule out that Kevin was just a distraction; their job necessitates constantly considering any and all possibilities. </p>
<p>“Calm down. Logically, we know the book was the only thing worth anything there,” Changmin placates from the driver’s seat. “Did Moonlighter mention the records book?”  </p>
<p>“He mentioned it, yeah. But when he intercepted me, he said that just knowing we had it was good enough and that he didn’t need it.” Jacob lifts his head and meets Sunwoo’s confused expression. “I don’t know either.” </p>
<p>Kevin could be an amazing actor. He’s obviously extremely talented and equal to Jacob’s physical prowess. Kissing Jacob could easily be confirmed to have been some sort of distraction; if it was, it was extremely successful. He should regret ever giving Kevin any ounce of trust, should immediately cut off the naive thought that they have some sort of “connection”. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>And yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jacob is pretty confident in his ability to read people. He has years of experience in interrogating people, knows what to look for when someone is lying. </p>
<p>When he thinks back to Kevin’s expressions, his actions, his words, his voice: they weren’t lies. He’s confident that he saw authenticity in those pretty eyes, felt the realness in the desperation when they kissed. At his most logical, sterile, examination of their whole interaction, he’s sure that Kevin dropped their flirty enemy act when he told Jacob he wanted to kiss him. </p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Jacob repeats. “We’ll discuss this all when we get back to the base. Maybe the others will have an idea.” With Sunwoo and Changmin’s sounds of agreement, Jacob leans back into the car seat, exhaustion settling deep into his bones. </p>
<p>As he closes his eyes for the few minutes of rest he’ll get, his mind is filled with cat-like eyes, bright from moonlight through a dusty window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>_____________</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Jacob finishes talking, he’s met with wide eyes and a silent room. Sangyeon is the first to speak.</p>
<p>“So,” he says slowly. “EN-Network is also targeting Sun Corp and through associated gangs, have found out that two other gangs are highly likely to try to negotiate a merge with Sun Corp.” Their leader leans a hand on their meeting table, eyeing Jacob. “And Kevin Moon just gave you that information for free?” </p>
<p>Jacob nods and sighs in frustration. “Yeah, I don’t know either. So take it with a grain of salt.” Sangyeon narrows his eyes at him but he meets his gaze, challenging him. “Here’s how I look at it,” Jacob starts. “Even if it’s bullshit, he named FN Sector and JY Gang. We’ve gotten similar intel that those two gangs have been acting up and cozying up with Sun Corp. So, at the least, we just continue watching those two gangs.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon contemplates what Jacob said and after a tense moment of silence, he nods. “You’re right,” he says, the tone of his voice signaling finality. The rest of the room visibly relaxes and the other six men start moving from their seats. Jacob sighs and leans back in his chair, feeling exhaustion overtake his body again. Sangyeon walks around the table to stand next to Jacob. He puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes. “I never doubted you, Jacob. We just can’t trust Kevin Moon.” He looks up at Sangyeon and shoots him a tired smile. </p>
<p>“Yay, Mom and Dad aren’t fighting anymore, kids. We can go to bed!” Jaehyun calls out, clapping loudly. The two eldest roll their eyes but smile as the other members start making their way out of the meeting room. </p>
<p>“We still have to talk about the records book, so wake up bright and early tomorrow,” Sangyeon yells to their departing backs. Sunwoo, the last to leave, gives him a thumbs-up before spinning around and dancing out of the room. Once they’re alone, Sangyeon immediately walks over to the liquor cabinet they have in the room. Jacob laughs and stands to join him. As Sangyeon starts to hand him a glass, he slightly pulls it out of Jacob’s reach. </p>
<p>“So,” Sangyeon begins and raises a brow. “How drunk do I have to get you for you to start telling me that Kevin Moon has a nice ass?” </p>
<p>Jacob coughs in surprise and feels his face flush. He quickly plucks the glass out of Sangyeon’s hand and grimaces. “Christ, can’t hide anything from you,” he mutters as Sangyeon grabs one of the nicer whiskys and starts to fill their glasses. His friend grins, and they clink their glasses together. Grabbing the bottle, they move to lean on the table, facing Sunwoo’s computer setup. After a moment of enjoying the whisky, Jacob sighs and tilts his glass to Sangyeon, urging him to speak. </p>
<p>“When you said ‘wasting your time’, what exactly does that mean?” Sangyeon takes a swig from his drink, giving Jacob time to respond. </p>
<p>He figures there’s no point in dodging this question like he usually does. His leader—and best friend—has asked variations of this question several times. </p>
<p>“He flirts. With me.”</p>
<p>Sangyeon raises a brow and turns his whole body to look at Jacob. “Recently?” </p>
<p>A deep sigh leaves Jacob and he shakes his head. “Since the beginning. Every time we’ve met, he just starts flirting with me.” He swirls the amber drink in his glass, ignoring Sangyeon’s stare. </p>
<p>Jacob’s emotions are a mess in his head. He doesn’t know if he should feel potentially betrayed, he’s angry at himself for letting Kevin get so close, and he’s confused as to what the lithe man is trying to do by giving him intel his own organization found. </p>
<p>“Jacob,” Sangyeon starts, and at the tone of his voice, Jacob tips his head back to down the rest of the drink. He wordlessly holds his glass up and with a sigh, Sangyeon quickly refills it. “Jacob, you’re telling me that since the first time you’ve met, you’ve been flirting with the enemy.” </p>
<p>Jacob grimaces but doesn’t deny it. Sensing no malice in his words, he looks over to Sangyeon and is met with a shit-eating grin. “What?” He says, shocked at his friend’s reaction. “Shouldn’t you be mad I’m flirting with him?” </p>
<p>Sangyeon laughs then and finishes his drink. Jacob grabs the bottle and refills his glass. “I don’t know, honestly. You still complete missions perfectly, he hasn’t compromised you at all yet, and I get to see you lose your shit over an,” and Sangyeon tries his best Jacob impression, “annoyingly beautiful guy.” Jacob groans as his friend laughs again. </p>
<p>“You shouldn’t let me be like this,” he mutters, sipping his drink indignantly. Sangyeon bumps his shoulder, still smiling. </p>
<p>“I know you wouldn’t let it get far enough that he’d be an actual problem. And I have a feeling you get some fun out of it.” He looks over at Jacob then. Sangyeon only has Jacob’s best interest in mind and all he sees is kindness in those eyes. </p>
<p>Jacob takes another sip from his glass, a small smile on his lips. “Yeah,” he says softly. “Not every day you get a gorgeous man flirting with you.” That makes Sangyeon guffaw and he slaps Jacob’s back. </p>
<p>“Let me remind you he’s a man who happens to be pretty deadly. Jeez, how’d you managed to get tangled up with a rival agent like this? What are we, some lame TV drama?” Jacob chuckles as his friend takes a long sip of his drink. As he lowers his glass, Sangyeon adds, “Well, as long as you keep it at flirting, I don’t see a problem with it. If anything, you may be as much of a distraction for him as he <em> could </em> be for you.” </p>
<p>Jacob hides how he tenses, and just nods, deciding that he’ll stop at this drink if only to prevent himself from getting too drunk and accidentally start talking about his kiss with Kevin. </p>
<p>They sit in comfortable silence for a while. They each fill their glasses one more time—Jacob can’t help it: Sangyeon chose one of their top-shelf whiskys—and as they both finish off their drinks, Jacob blurts out, “He does have a nice ass, it’s so annoying.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon laughs so loudly that Younghoon yells at them from another room.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading! I realize it's a pretty slow start... but I'm having some fun writing something with chapters! And making Jacob Go Thru It is fun lol... Anyways, chapter 3 should be up pretty quickly! </p>
<p>As always, you can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">twitter!</a><br/>Please have zero fear of letting me know your thoughts! </p>
<p>Also, I'm using translated Shine Shine lyrics for chapter titles because I don't have the brainspace to think of something clever haha</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Shake My Thoughts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>An anonymous group, more intel, a new mission, and a familiar face.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is a bit of a long one! And it's plot-heavy! I hope it isn't too boring... I have a lot of Thoughts(™) on how to build this universe up a bit, so please bear with me. I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Creaker, formed by Sangyeon, works as a mercenary group most of the time. What makes the eight of them unique in their field is their shared common goal to pursue larger objectives, fueled by their morals. Sangyeon chose each of them because they all refused to let go of their humanity, a rare trait in their line of work. </p>
<p>Two years ago, they discovered that the Sun Corporation was responsible for an increase of military-grade firearms and opioid overdoses in their city. </p>
<p>They love their city. And with the rise of the gang’s activity affecting their most vulnerable communities, without question, they aimed their sights on them. </p>
<p>With Jacob obtaining the records book from a high-level member in the Sun Corp, they’re able to start investigating the names in the book. They spend the next two months working off it, finding information on each person and beginning to track them. They still have to go on other missions, but they focus most of their energy on narrowing down who the most vital people are in the gang. </p>
<p>They also quickly start realizing that Kevin might’ve given them legitimate information. </p>
<p>The most recent additions in the records book trace back to several members in the JY Gang and FN Sector. Kevin’s whispered intel specified those two gangs and as they further investigate, they’re finding that those two gangs have had an increase in activity in Sun Corp’s territory. </p>
<p>Midway through the third month, Sangyeon calls a sudden meeting. They’re all on base—a secluded three-story house in the woods—so they’re all there to pile into their meeting room. Sangyeon, Younghoon, and Sunwoo are waiting for them. Jacob is sweaty after sparring with Jaehyun and Haknyeon so he hovers near the back of the group. </p>
<p>Sunwoo, sitting in front of all his screens, spins dramatically in his computer chair to face all of them. Sangyeon sighs a little at his theatrics but lets him start the meeting. </p>
<p>“So here’s the news,” Sunwoo says, steepling his fingers. He pauses to look around their group and his gaze lands on Jacob. </p>
<p>“Moonlighter was right. JY Gang and FN Sector are going to meet with Sun Corp and try to merge.” </p>
<p>They all gasp to varying degrees. Jacob sucks in a breath; he feels both vindicated and confused. It’s been months and he still can’t fathom why Kevin willingly gave him intel. And with this update, it was apparently <em>significant </em>intel, at that.</p>
<p>Sunwoo clears his throat to regain everyone’s attention. “Going off the records book, Moonlighter’s intel started looking legitimate after Younghoon and I tracked down those two co-leader guys. And like Juyeon found out that last mission: they talk a lot without thinking they’re being watched. We went through other messages and activity and it all checks out.” Their tech guy leans back in his chair, steepling his fingers again and bringing them up to his nose. </p>
<p>“We have another reason why we’re confident it’s legitimate though,” Sangyeon interjects, his face solemn. Sunwoo nods and spins in his chair to face his computers. He clicks around and then pulls up a few windows for them to see. </p>
<p>“What are we looking at?” Changmin asks, his confusion shared by the other five men in the room. It’s just a bunch of text and what looks like two screenshots of security camera footage. </p>
<p>Jaehyun reads from the screen, “No confirmed date yet. Dates range within the last week of the month. All gangs told to bring a max of five people, including their one main negotiator. Will contact if more information gained.”  He turns to Sunwoo. “What is this?” He tilts his head in confusion.</p>
<p>“We got this message an hour ago. Any attempt to contact whoever sent this bounced back. But they sent <em> these </em> pictures.” Sunwoo gestures to the screen with the screenshots. “And it’s of Juyeon and Jacob from a couple of missions ago. So they appear to know who we are and specifically sent this to us.” They all tense, and Changmin releases a slight whine. </p>
<p>“We received one more message,” Sangyeon leans over and clicks opens a window on the screen. He clears his throat and begins to read out loud. “Here is our intel on the Sun Corp, JYG, FNS merge meeting. We are contacting you because we know your organization has been investigating Sun Corp. We may be compromised by the time of the meeting but our information is accurate. Continue the mission.” </p>
<p>“Signed, K.C.E,” Jacob finishes reading the message. There’s silence in the room and Jacob groans in frustration. “What the fuck is K.C.E?” He complains, aware that no one in the room can answer that question. </p>
<p>“This message could be anything,” Jaehyun says, and Juyeon, standing behind him, nods in agreement. </p>
<p>“It could be a trap, especially if they specifically contacted us after identifying me and Jacob.” Juyeon pouts; he’s just as frustrated as Jacob is for getting caught by an unknown entity. </p>
<p>Younghoon raises his hand slowly. “When Sunwoo and I were looking for intel, some of the files we found weren’t directly from the gangs themselves. Some of it was from this K.C.E name.” He holds his hands up, defensive. “We’ll operate as if these messages are a trap, but we shouldn’t completely discount them. This… group, we’ll call it, obviously has a similar goal to us and has been searching the same spaces as we have. So we’ll be cautious, but we shouldn’t completely disregard these messages.” He’s met with begrudging noises of agreement. </p>
<p>Sangyeon calls for the meeting’s end then, having only wanted to make them aware of the messages. They all begin shuffling out of the meeting room and Jacob decides to shower off the sweat from sparring. </p>
<p>As he strips out of his clothes, his thoughts are stuck on the mysterious message. He feels unsatisfied and confused by his inclusion in the message. There are only a few mercenary organizations in their city so he’s also uneasy that Creaker was identified through images of him and Juyeon. </p>
<p>Jacob hates how his brain immediately thinks of Kevin. It <em>is </em>possible other organizations could identify him or Juyeon. </p>
<p>But he knows Kevin could easily recognize him, knows that the sniper knows Jacob works for Creaker. And he gave Jacob the intel months in advance. </p>
<p>The ‘K’ in the acronym could be literally anything but memories of soft lips and wandering hands flood his brain and he has to shake his head to refocus. They agreed to just continue investigating and take the messages at face value. He’ll have to settle for that and keep his mind focused. There isn’t room for him to stupidly pine over a man he may never see again. </p>
<p>But if he steps into the shower and taps into a memory of a gentle hand on his jaw and the soft give of his hand on Kevin’s ass, well. That’s for him to deal with. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A week later, they receive new messages from the mysterious K.C.E group. </p>
<p>Younghoon uses the intercoms system in the base to wake them all up at 4 AM, demanding they head to the meeting room. They’re no strangers to sudden wake-up calls so they’re all alert when they pile into the room and gather around Sunwoo who’s pulling up the new messages on the screen. Sangyeon shuffles to the front and squints as he reads the message. </p>
<p>“They’re confirming a date? The 28th? Are we trusting this?” Sangyeon says, incredulous, and turns to Sunwoo and Younghoon. In response, Younghoon nods his head and their leader raises his brows. The two direct their group’s attention to one of the many screens. </p>
<p>“They provided messages, audio files, and video files. We looked at the metadata to see if anything was falsified but it’s all legit. And all of it is evidence confirming the 28th as the day,” Younghoon explains, his voice is a little tight as he clicks through the files. He plays one of the videos and they all watch in shock as a Sun Corp member, one they’ve been targeting, speaks to another member. The two gang members laugh and the audio picks up their voices discussing “the big meeting on the 28th.” </p>
<p><em> “Can ‘ya imagine tryna deal with JY Gang goons? Aren’t they fuckin’ idiots most of the time?” </em> The two members laugh. </p>
<p><em> “Big merge party gonna be a goddamn mess. God fuck, the 28th is what, a couple days away?” </em> </p>
<p>The video goes longer but Younghoon pauses it. He turns to Sunwoo then, his brows furrowed. “There’s more, actually.” </p>
<p>Sunwoo scrolls down the message and lands on a few sentences. </p>
<p>“You’re fucking kidding me,” Jaehyun gasps. “They have a confirmed location?” </p>
<p>Under the lines of text, a satellite photo is provided. The image isn’t unfamiliar to their group; they recognize a warehouse that Sun Corp frequently uses. They discovered its location during the past three months they’ve been tracking members. </p>
<p>Sunwoo pulls up more documents and videos but the point is made. K.C.E just gave them significant information about the meeting between Sun Corp, JY Gang, and FN Sector. </p>
<p>“Why… why are they just giving us this information?” Juyeon’s voice is small, a contrast to the tall man. </p>
<p>Jacob recalls their previous message from a week ago. “They might be compromised. We could be looking at a last-ditch effort from them,” he grits his teeth, unreasonable worry for this unknown group. </p>
<p>Sunwoo clicks his tongue. “Jacob, you’re pretty spot-on,” he says, and scrolls to the bottom of the message. It reads: </p>
<p>
  <em> We have been abandoned by our org. We have yet to be compromised but it seems imminent. Our intel continues to be accurate and we will continue to update as much as possible. Please continue the mission. </em>
</p>
<p>“Sheesh,” Sangyeon hisses through his teeth and leans back into the chair he’s sitting in. He glances at Jacob and they both clench their jaws. </p>
<p>“We <em>have </em>to continue operating on the chance this could be a trap,” Jacob starts but Younghoon interrupts. </p>
<p>“They provided 3 gigabytes of proof, some of which we found too and consider as strong evidence,” the taller insists. “And Sunwoo and I cross-checked with anything else we’ve found and it’s all looking legitimate.” </p>
<p>“We should still be cautious but with all the extra evidence they sent over… it’s all looking reliable,” Sunwoo says, his face solemn. He nervously bites his lip and looks at Sangyeon for direction. </p>
<p>Their leader’s face is solemn, his arms crossed as he silently deliberates. </p>
<p>“If this is accurate, then we would have about 35 hours to prepare,” Sangyeon says, his tone neutral. He turns to look at the screens, examining the breadth of information provided. “My issue is that I don’t know what they want us to do.” </p>
<p>Jacob agrees. The information is helpful but what exactly is this K.C.E group trying to achieve? What is their mission? </p>
<p>As everyone contemplates Sangyeon’s point, Haknyeon clears his throat. “If they’re being dropped, maybe it’s an information thing?” He chimes in. They all turn to look at him; he jumps, surprised. At Sangyeon’s encouraging nod, he continues. “I mean, they obviously have a lot of intel on these groups. If they’ve been abandoned, and they’re just giving us this for free, it seems like they’re trying to find a group that’ll find all the work they put into this useful.” </p>
<p>“And continue to build on it,” Younghoon adds, his eyes wide. </p>
<p>At that exact moment, the computer dings. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a new message. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sunwoo scrambles and begins furiously typing. He has to go through several layers of security to access it but when he does, he opens it so everyone can read it. </p>
<p>
  <em> With the number of members attending this meeting, if we had the resources, we would do intel ONLY, for this meeting. We’re assuming you are smart and will not attempt to attack them. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> New intel indicates there will be discussions of “goods and services”. Likely a reference to weapons and other resource distribution.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> We understand our intentions are confusing. Simply, we want these gangs out of our city. We are at an impasse and fear our years of work will be lost. We know your org is working towards a similar goal. We hope this will help continue this mission.  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> Our demise may be inevitable but we will continue to send you as much intel as possible.  </em>
</p>
<p>Sunwoo laughs in disbelief. “Holy shit.” There’s silence in the room, none of them sure how to react. </p>
<p>After an extended pause, Sangyeon stands up from his seat.  “What’d they attach this time?” He asks, breaking the tension in the room. Sunwoo goes to click on the attached files; it’s more videos and documents. As he opens them and begins examining the new evidence K.C.E provided, Sangyeon turns to the group. His expression is solemn. </p>
<p>“An intel retrieval mission like this just relies on stealth. That’s relatively low stakes and we’re good at that.” Everyone in the room makes noises of agreement. Their leader pauses and turns his head to look at Sunwoo and Younghoon. “You two are <em>absolutely</em> <em>confident</em> that this intel they’re giving us is legitimate?” </p>
<p>They both nod. “We’ve checked everything, we have crossover in intel, and we know for sure they have been looking in the same places we have,” Younghoon summarizes. Sunwoo nods his agreement. Sangyeon turns back to look at the rest of them. </p>
<p>“If Younghoon and Sunwoo are confident that this K.C.E group’s intel is legitimate, then I see value in us observing this meeting. This intel indicates Sun Corp will only be getting stronger and we benefit from any and all information we can get on Sun Corp, JYG, and FNS.” He stands straight and puts his hands on his hips.</p>
<p>“Are there any objections to <em> just </em> doing an intel mission?”  </p>
<p>The room is silent. Sangyeon turns to look at Jacob, raising a brow. He nods in reply. After a survey of the room, Sangyeon takes a deep breath.</p>
<p>“Let’s get started then.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They spend the rest of the day planning. It’s not difficult for them to form a plan: they know the warehouse is empty right now as it’s not being used so they’ll sneak in before the gangs arrive; they’ll find a stake-out location next door to watch for when the gangs arrive and they’ll record anything relevant.</p>
<p>Since it’s just intel, they don’t need a large group on the ground. They decide that Haknyeon, Juyeon, and Jacob will be the ones to go into the warehouse; Sangyeon and Changmin will find a location to help monitor; Younghoon will be in their getaway van. Sunwoo and Jaehyun will stay on base and monitor from there. </p>
<p>The mission itself isn’t new nor daunting; they’ve infiltrated larger meetings with higher security and higher stakes. </p>
<p>But there’s an air of apprehension: usually, they are the ones that decide what the mission is. This mission is unique and in any other circumstance, they would’ve vehemently opposed it. But the breadth of information K.C.E provided allows them to go into this mission with a level of confidence. </p>
<p>And as they prepare, K.C.E continues to send them intel. Sunwoo stays glued to the computers, waiting for the next message. </p>
<p>“Fucking hell,” Sunwoo laughs at one point. Changmin and Jacob are in the room with him and they shuffle over to see what made him laugh. Their tech guy points to the screen. </p>
<p>“Whoever is sending these messages has a sense of humor,” he chuckles. </p>
<p>
  <em> JYG will be their 1 negotiator and 4 bodyguards. We’ve crossed paths with one of the guards; he shot as our agent, missed, then hurt himself. So more like 3 bodyguards.  </em>
</p>
<p>Changmin scoffs. “This isn’t their first time with these gangs, huh.” He looks up at the document Sunwoo has up where he’s been compiling all the information K.C.E has been giving them. With this newest message, the mysterious group has provided them with the total number of people that’ll be in the meeting. </p>
<p>“Ten total from JYG and FNS then. And Sun Corp bringing twenty people just to be assholes is on-brand for them,” Jacob mutters, reading through Sunwoo’s notes. As he reads through it, he hums. “When did they tell you they’ve bugged all three gangs?” </p>
<p>“About an hour ago. They sent proof too, even gave me the location of where they put them.” Sunwoo pauses. “They really must be in danger,” he says quietly, biting his lip nervously. </p>
<p>Jacob silently worries for this group. At this point, it seems like they’ve been given just about everything this group can offer. A few hours ago, one of the messages explained that they’ve been tracking the gangs for two years now and that, within the last eight months, two of their agents went as far as going undercover and getting those bugs placed. They sent images of some of the gang members—images someone could only take if they were on the inside. </p>
<p>Creaker is confident in their stealth, but they’re still cautious about doing undercover missions. K.C.E must be an incredibly skilled group to be able to get their agents in and out of three gangs, undercover, all within eight months. </p>
<p>They’re about 24 hours away from the meeting time. The plan has been ironed out, everyone is up to speed, and all their supplies are prepared. Their next step is to head out 8 hours before the meeting to cover their bases but other than that, there isn’t much to do except to wait. </p>
<p>So they wait. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They’ve surveyed the unassuming warehouse before. When they found out that Sun Corp uses it for meetings and shipments, Sangyeon and Jacob inspected it thoroughly, making sure to note all the entrances and every possible exit. Other shipping company warehouses surround it, so it’s in plain sight; a clever choice in theory, but ideal for them. </p>
<p>They set up in the warehouse next door, easily finding multiple, well-hidden areas they can set up and have a robust view of all the main entrances to Sun Corp’s place. Once they finish setting up, Jacob, Juyeon, and Haknyeon prepare accordingly. </p>
<p>It shouldn’t be a difficult mission at all: the three of them just have to sneak in and find good hiding spots and listen for relevant information. Sangyeon and Changmin will watch and make note of the members who arrive and once they deem it safe, the three agents will make their escape and they’ll all head back to base. </p>
<p>None of them can deny the higher level of tension though. </p>
<p>K.C.E’s last message, sent an hour before they headed out, was short and terrifying:</p>
<p>
  <em> Compromised. </em>
</p>
<p>The message before it listed the name of the negotiator for each gang. The three-hour gap between that message and the one prior was a surprise given that previously, they were receiving multiple messages an hour. </p>
<p>Jacob wishes he wasn’t so worried about this anonymous group. Sangyeon said his naturally caring nature is why he feels so anxious for K.C.E but he knows that they all feel some level of uneasiness after that last message. </p>
<p>“Alright, two hours. Let’s get you going,” Sangyeon announces, breaking Jacob from his thoughts. The three agents do one last check of their gear and then make their way next door. </p>
<p>Because he’s been there before, Jacob leads them; they go through a storeroom window and make their way through a short maze of hallways to a blocked stairway they easily maneuver over. It leads them to a walkway that gives them access to the ceiling rafters and the back section of the warehouse. </p>
<p>They intend to stay hidden in the steel beam rafters; it gives them easy access to all the various sections while allowing relatively quick and easy movement. Sun Corps’ warehouse is unintentionally a great place to do intel. </p>
<p>They wait for an hour when finally, Sangyeon speaks into their earpieces. </p>
<p>“Van just arrived.” The trio tense and lower themselves closer to the steel beams. “Bodyguards out first… ah. Sun Corp arriving early, it seems.” They can hear voices outside the warehouse’s front door. Moments later, the doors open and six men in all-black outfits walk in. An older man, wearing a charcoal grey suit walks in and glances around the warehouse. </p>
<p>“No one cleaned this place?” They hear him groan; his smoke-heavy voice easily carries in the cacophonous warehouse. As Changmin reads off the license plate of the van, Sangyeon lets them know two other vans arrived; moments later, the rest of the twenty people Sun Corp wanted to bring pile into the warehouse. The group begins to set up the place, pulling tables and chairs into the open floor space. The man in the charcoal suit—their negotiator—sits in one of the nicer chairs they pull up and lights a cigarette. He lazily directs the multiple goons as a few members walk up to him, offering him coffee or listening to him. He seems to be the only one with power; one goon hovers near him—presumably his assistant. </p>
<p>Juyeon brought a small camera for them to take photos; as he documents, Haknyeon helps record any relevant information while Jacob watches intently. </p>
<p>“Sir, what does FNS have to offer?” A younger guy asks suddenly. “We know JYG has the west harbor, but FNS had that one stint with those human trafficking groups...” The young man looks away as the negotiator takes a long drag of his cigarette. </p>
<p>“FNS has money. Their little leader is some rich boy who’s biting off more than he can chew. All we care about is his money though,” Sun Corp’s negotiator sighs and waves his hand in the air. “They’re desperate to get some skin in the game and we can give them the illusion of that.” </p>
<p>Haknyeon raises a brow and looks at Jacob and Juyeon. That’s some interesting news to them. </p>
<p>“They said they’re bringing a ‘gift’,” the assistant speaks suddenly and shows his phone screen to the negotiator. “I have a terrible feeling they’re bringing people.” The negotiator scoffs and takes another drag. </p>
<p>“If they think we want any part of that shit, the conversation ends immediately.” </p>
<p>Jacob wants to laugh; Sun Corp drawing the line at human trafficking just seems ridiculous. </p>
<p>Sangyeon cuts in. “New van at the front,” he says quietly. “Five new guys. One in a suit.” Sun Corp arrived an hour early; it seems the other gangs wanted to be timely as well. </p>
<p>“I recognize the suit guy. This is JYG’s negotiator,” Changmin adds. </p>
<p>The trio looks to the front door right as there’s a loud knock; they watch as one of the goons rushes over to open it. When JYG’s negotiator strolls in, his four other bodyguards stumble in, too many trying to fit in the door at once. Once they’re all in, they all stand straight, attempting to give an air of expertise. Sun Corp’s negotiator stands and greets JYG’s negotiator, a middle-aged man with a large scar slicing down the left side of his face. They shake hands and make their way to the table. </p>
<p>“Third van,” Changmin’s voice suddenly pops into their ears. FNS has arrived. </p>
<p>“One, two… hey what the fuck,” Sangyeon murmurs, his confusion evident in this voice. Juyeon looks up at Haknyeon and Jacob, his brows furrowed in worry. </p>
<p>“Sangyeon, what’s up,” Jacob asks quietly. They hear him curse. </p>
<p>“You know how Sun Corp was saying FNS is bringing gifts?” Their leader mutters.</p>
<p>“It looks like hostages,” Changmin concludes. </p>
<p>The three tense and watch the front door warily; when FNS walks in, three of the bodyguards drag along three figures with hoods on their heads. </p>
<p>“Oh hell no, nah, fuck you, we’re not taking any of your filthy slaves,” Sun Corp’s negotiator yells. Juyeon is rapidly taking photos, focusing some on the hooded figures—it may be helpful if they decide to try to extract them. </p>
<p>“Calm down, they’re not what you think they are,” FNS’s negotiator calls out, holding his hand out for one of his bodyguards to light his cigarette. He’s a younger guy and wearing a shiny black suit. “They might be a pain though, so can we put them in a backroom or something?” As he takes a drag of his cigarette, he walks up to Sun Corp’s negotiator. </p>
<p>They have a quiet conversation and after a nod from Sun Corp’s negotiator, FNS’s bodyguards are directed to move the hostages into one of the back areas in the warehouse. </p>
<p>“You,” FNS’s negotiator grabs one of his bodyguards. He’s obviously younger than the others and a little scrawny. He’s handed a gun and the negotiator pushes him towards the other three bodyguards moving the hostages. “Keep watch on those bastards and keep your gun on them at all times.” The young man nods reverently and scurries after the guards. </p>
<p>FNS’s negotiator claps his hands and Sun Corp’s negotiator rolls his eyes. JYG’s negotiator takes a swig from a flask.  </p>
<p>“Let’s get this meeting started!” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For about 20 minutes, the gangs flaunt their accomplishments. It’s a lot of numbers and awful crimes; Haknyeon looks physically ill when FNS seems very proud they’ve worked with a human trafficker once. As JYG’s negotiator drones on about information that Creaker already knew, Jacob sees the FNS negotiator whisper something to one of his bodyguards. The man nods and walks to an FNS guard standing directly under them. </p>
<p>“Check the ‘goods’, huh” they hear the guard reply. He fist-bumps the other and then turns to walk towards the backrooms. </p>
<p>“Sangyeon,” Jacob murmurs into his earpiece. He looks up at Haknyeon. “Should I check on those hostages?”</p>
<p>There’s a pause. “Juyeon.” The tall man hums into his earpiece, his gaze not leaving the gangs below. “Think you can handle monitoring for a bit? I want Haknyeon to go with Jacob, just in case.” </p>
<p>“Can do,” Juyeon whispers; without breaking his gaze, he holds his hand out for the recording device in Haknyeon’s hand. Once the two younger members work quickly to get Juyeon outfitted, Haknyeon gives Jacob a thumbs up. </p>
<p>They’ve already learned their way around the warehouse so it’s not hard for them to follow FNS’s guard. As he takes his time, Jacob and Haknyeon scale the steel beams quickly, reaching the rafters above the back room just as the guard burst through the doors. </p>
<p>“Ah, good job kid,” the guard sneers, nodding towards the mousy guard; the young guy is shakily holding the gun and pointing it to the three hostages. </p>
<p>The hoods are still covering their heads and they’re on their knees, their elbows bent and hands up in the air. It’s hard to confirm from their angle but all three hostages look fit; they’re also all wearing combat boots. They’ve been placed in a horizontal line and the new guard deliberately walks slowly up to the hostage in the middle. </p>
<p>When the tip of his dress shoes taps against the hostage’s knees, the guard turns to the younger guard. </p>
<p>“They haven’t made a fuss at all?” The kid shakes his head. “So they’ve been playing nice, huh,” the older guard scoffs. Jacob can see the hostage he’s in front of tense. </p>
<p>“Kind of crazy these three bitches took out a whole branch from Sun Corp’s weapon supply,” the guard says, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. He glanced over to the mousy kid again. “Don’t you think we should just do those fuckers a favor and kill ‘em now?” </p>
<p>Jacob sees Haknyeon tense. They’re in a tough situation: they don’t know who these hostages are but they’re obviously some sort of agents. If what the guard said is true, they’ve done some skilled work to do something as drastic as eliminating a branch from Sun Corp. </p>
<p>As Jacob raises his hand to speak into his earpiece, the older guard kicks the hostage in the gut. They double over and the guard reaches out to tear the hood off their head. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fuck, a pretty boy like you really took out a whole supplier, huh,” the guard curses. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It feels like there’s no air in Jacob’s lungs. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jacob’s best nightmare deftly dodges when the guard spits at him. When the guard grabs his hair and jerks his head back, Jacob sees a face he never thought he’d miss. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin Moon, a sniper, and apparently a hostage, grimaces when they make eye contact.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Finally, we reintroduce Kevin! I don't think it's too hard of a guess who the other two are ;) Anyways, thank you for reading! And please leave a comment if you have any thoughts! </p>
<p>As always, you can follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">Twitter!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. 'Bout To Bring Fire</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fire, an in, a mess.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Stuff uh, happens! A bit of a transition chapter... I hope you enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Besides his many talents, Jacob is known for his steadfast patience and unflinching composure in chaotic situations; it’s why he’s second-in-command at Creaker. He’s good at examining situations and almost never makes rash decisions. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Keyword: almost.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sangyeon,” Jacob speaks into his earpiece. Haknyeon looks over at him, curious as to what his teammate is up to. </p>
<p>Jacob sits on his heels and pulls out his handgun. “Two guards and three hostages. I’m going to subdue the guards.” Haknyeon looks at him, bug-eyed. </p>
<p>Below them, the guard kicks Kevin again, knocking him over. He catches himself and recovers quickly; as he begins to sit up, the mousy guard yells out, “On your knees! Hands up!” His voice, and the hand aiming the gun at Kevin, shakes.</p>
<p>Jacob watches as Kevin slowly sits back in his original position, watching the younger guard the whole time. He can’t see the black-haired man’s expression, but he can somehow see the exasperation in the way he raises his hands. The older guard walks to the other two hostages and pulls their hoods off. </p>
<p>“Didn’t get a chance to see all ya faces but damn, does EN-Net only employ pretty boys?” He spits again and one of them, a pink-haired man, dodges the spit. The third hostage, on Kevin’s right, shakes out his blonde hair.</p>
<p>“Jacob, why do you want to subdue the guards?” Sangyeon asks, his voice rushed. Jacob’s tone must’ve indicated the impulsiveness of his decision. He’s already moving to the rafter above the guard with Haknyeon following him, his expression alarmed. </p>
<p>They hear the older guard let out a laugh. “So you’re telling me these three wiped out Kang’s weapon supply. <em> These </em> three freaks?” He points at Kevin and the other two hostages. The younger guard squeaks when everyone turns to look at him. He shrugs and the older guard scoffs and starts walking towards him. “Sun Corp can’t even kill some little shits. We should just do it, show ‘em we can get rid of these scum before they can.” </p>
<p>“S-shut up, man! We’re tryna get on their good side! Leave ‘em be!” The younger guard hisses. When the older swivels to look at him, he cowers. </p>
<p>“You think you can tell me what to do?” The older guard leans forward to look him in the eye; when the young man shakes his head, he nods and stands straight again. </p>
<p>“Gotta say,” the older guard says as he walks slowly to stand in front of Kevin, deliberately stamping each foot down on his way. “Your company really,” and he reaches out again to grip Kevin’s hair and yank his head to look at him. “Just dumped you three into our laps, huh.” Kevin keeps his expression solemn and Jacob can hear the guard sneer, “Tryna be some hero, eh?” </p>
<p>Jacob doesn’t need to hear anymore. He watches Haknyeon from his peripheral as he answers Sangyeon. “It’s three agents,” Jacob offers as an explanation. He doesn’t further elaborate and positions himself to jump. Haknyeon looks rightfully panicked and Jacob offers him a placating smile. “I recognize one of them,” he decides to tell Haknyeon.</p>
<p>The older guard is ranting now, his hands waving in frustration. Kevin is watching the guard’s face but when Jacob prepares to jump, they make eye contact again; Kevin’s eyes only slightly widen. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jacob doesn’t give any warning. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s a long fall which means that the force he hits the guard with is enough to knock him out immediately. </p>
<p>Kevin has enough sense to roll out of the way. The mousy guard squeals and stands up but the blonde-haired man next to Kevin leans over and sweeps his leg out, tripping the guard. He begins to fall backward and Jacob is already behind him; he puts the young guy in a sleeper chokehold and the moment the guard goes limp, he releases his hold and gently lays him down. Behind him, he hears Haknyeon rappel down. </p>
<p>There’s a moment of stillness as Jacob stands up again, his back to Kevin and the two other hostages. He hears movement then. </p>
<p>“Nope, stay down,” Haknyeon commands. When Jacob turns around, he sees his teammate aiming his gun at Kevin’s forehead. Kevin motions to the other two men to stay where they are as they start to get up, their expressions worried. Haknyeon glances at Jacob then back to Kevin, his expression grim. “Who are you?” </p>
<p>“We <em>have </em>to make this fast,” Kevin replies, his expression tight. “We’re from EN-Network. I’m a sniper, I go by Vinny,” Kevin is rushing through his introduction but Haknyeon gasps loudly at the name, cutting Kevin off. </p>
<p>“Vinny?!” He drops his hand holding the gun and points at Kevin with his other hand. Kevin looks confused and nods slowly. </p>
<p>“Yes? That’s my-” </p>
<p>“You’re <em> the </em> Vinny, the sniper?” Haknyeon turns to look at Jacob then, his eyes wide and mouth open. “He’s the one who kept taking jobs from me last fall!” </p>
<p>Jacob recognizes the name now: Haknyeon waged a one-sided war with a sniper named Vinny, some mysterious agent who, for three months, kept taking multiple jobs right from under Haknyeon’s nose. </p>
<p>From what Haknyeon would tell them, Vinny was well-regarded and universally acknowledged as a master sniper. As it is with those in that field, there wasn’t any identifying information out there except a name. It makes sense to have multiple pseudonyms in their industry and Jacob adds the name “Vinny” to his private collection of things he knows about Kevin. </p>
<p>“I, well, great, you know who I am, you know I’m not incompetent,” Kevin cuts back in. He clears his throat to get both of their attention. When they both face him, he starts speaking quickly. “I can’t stress how little time we have but I need to propose something to you.” </p>
<p>With both of their attention on Kevin, he drops his hands and runs them through his ruffled hair. </p>
<p>“Wait, firstly. You’re from Creaker, right?” Kevin aims this question at Haknyeon; Jacob feels weird, knowing that Kevin is aware of who Jacob’s organization is. Haknyeon answers anyway, confirming Kevin’s question. With a nod, Kevin starts again. “Okay. So hi, hello, we’re K.C.E.” </p>
<p>Jacob jerks back in surprise and Haknyeon gasps. Kevin barrels on, ignoring their shock. </p>
<p>“We <em>were </em> EN-Net’s best unit but they dropped us because we’ve been taking out these gangs. They apparently decided to retaliate and left us up to dry for FNS. So that’s how they got us. Our last-ditch attempt was contacting you and sending our intel. And we had a feeling EN-Net would do something,” Kevin takes a breath. </p>
<p>“We just didn’t think that they’d straight up give us up to a gang,” the pink-haired man finishes Kevin’s sentence. </p>
<p>“Yeah, that was a surprise.” Kevin briefly glances at Jacob then looks at Haknyeon. “Honestly, we’re glad to be out of there but this does leave us as free agents. So.” He quickly turns to look at the other two men of K.C.E. When he faces them again, Jacob is reminded of the fire he saw in Kevin’s eyes months ago. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If you’ll have us, we’d like to join your organization.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jacob wasn’t expecting that at all. At his and Haknyeon’s shocked pauses, Kevin huffs a little, frustrated. </p>
<p>“We’ve excellent at our jobs and if you need literal resumes, we can provide them.” Kevin eyes the two of them, his brow raised. “But first, we really, <em> really </em>should get out of here,” he urges and nods towards the door and two knocked-out FNS guards. </p>
<p>That gets them out of their trance; Haknyeon moves first. He turns to look at the rope he rappelled down and speaks into his earpiece. “Sang,” he starts and there’s a flurry of noises as both Changmin and Sangyeon chastise them both for acting so suddenly. </p>
<p>“They’re K.C.E,” Jacob interjects and their two teammates on the other end go quiet. “We’re going to get out of here first and deal with it later. But we need to leave <em>now.”</em> </p>
<p>There’s a pause. Then, “Juyeon, have you gotten anything sufficient?” Sangyeon asks. </p>
<p>“If he has to stay, let us know; we need to escort K.C.E out,” Haknyeon says as he urges the other three men onto their feet. Kevin helps the blonde guy up and Jacob offers a hand to the pink-haired one. He grins at Jacob and whispers, “Thanks, dude!” </p>
<p>“Ju, if you have to stay,” Haknyeon begins to repeat. Kevin looks at Jacob then and takes a step towards him. </p>
<p>“You have a third guy here for intel?” Jacob, shocked by the sudden acknowledgment, nods slowly; Kevin surprises him further when he reaches out and presses a hand to his arm. “We have this place bugged to hell, we just need a computer and Cha-New. <em> New </em> can access them; we keep recordings for twenty-four hours.” He nods to the blonde man as he speaks. </p>
<p>Jacob notices Kevin has the distinct sign of a hand mark forming on his neck. He blinks and Kevin is already moving away. </p>
<p>“You heard that, Sang?” Haknyeon asks. </p>
<p>“I did. Juyeon, move out and head to the van. You two, meet at the van with K.C.E.” </p>
<p>Kevin’s hand on Jacob’s arm felt like it burned through the sleeve of his top. He shakes his head a little and starts moving towards the windows in the room. </p>
<p>“Let’s get out of here,” he announces.</p>
<p>The pink-haired man helps Haknyeon pull his rope down while Kevin helps Jacob open one of the rusted-over windows. Haknyeon goes first; the blonde man and pink-haired man follow. Kevin helps both of his teammates through. When it’s his turn to go, Jacob helps him up. He has to pull Jacob up and when they grasp each other’s forearms, their eyes meet for a moment. </p>
<p>Kevin looks away quickly. </p>
<p>Once all five of them get through the window Haknyeon leads them to where Younghoon waits with the van, some running distance away. </p>
<p>When Jacob hears someone running behind them, he looks to see Juyeon catching up to them. He nods towards the three new men. “That’s K.C.E?” He asks, his voice low. Jacob just nods and Juyeon’s eyes harden. </p>
<p>When they all arrive, Sangyeon and Changmin are already inside, opening the back doors. </p>
<p>“K.C.E?” Sangyeon asks, pointing at Kevin and the two other guys, stopping them from entering. Haknyeon and Juyeon press around the three and climb into the car. Jacob, bringing up the back, peers around them. </p>
<p>“We’re K.C.E.“ Kevin confirms, his voice rushed. The blonde guy steps up then. </p>
<p>“We first made contact with you a week ago. We sent our first initial intel about the date of the meeting, we also made sure to get screenshots of two of your agents. We sent you the confirmed location, confirmed date, sent all those security cam footage of the gangs. We even sent you the location of our bugs, and we sent-” </p>
<p>“Okay, okay, okay, you’re K.C.E,” Sangyeon cuts him off, his eyes wide at the blonde man’s thorough summary of the intel they sent. He sighs and looks back into the van. “Listen, I’m glad you’re who you say you are but...” Sangyeon leans off to the side and when he sits back up, he’s holding handcuffs. “You get it, I hope,” he grimaces slightly. The three agents sigh but nod their heads and turn around, offering their wrists. </p>
<p>“Take me out on a date first, at least,” Kevin quips quietly under his breath; that gets a little laugh out of Jacob. Kevin glances over at him then, the corner of his lips quirked but then quickly looks away. </p>
<p>Once Jacob gets the pink-haired and blonde men bound, he helps them into the van. As Jacob locks the cuffs on Kevin, he looks at the lithe man’s neck. </p>
<p>“Someone tried to shut you up,” he murmurs. The first signs of bruising are already forming and he can’t help the small flare of anger he feels. Kevin just shrugs. </p>
<p>Once they get all of K.C.E settled into the van, Younghoon begins driving. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, first, who exactly are you?” Sangyeon says, facing them. They just finished briefly checking in with each other; now they have to deal with the bigger issue at hand. </p>
<p>Their van lets them sit and face K.C.E; they have them on the bench on one side and they sit on the other side. Younghoon and Changmin watch from the rearview mirror from their seats at the front. Juyeon crosses his arms, obviously suspicious of the three men, and slides closer to Sangyeon. </p>
<p>“He’s Vinny,” Haknyeon calls out, pointing to Kevin. Changmin and Younghoon make a noise of recognition. Those in the van then look at the pink-haired man, sitting to the right of Kevin. </p>
<p>After an awkward pause, the pink-haired guy sits up and straightens his back. “Oh! I’ll go then?” With a nod from Sangyeon, he smiles a little. “I go by Neon! I’m a fighter!” He mimics dodging, and shoots a grin; he can only move so much with his hands behind his back. His sudden exuberant energy is a strange contrast to the tense air in the van but Kevin and the blonde man watch him with fond smiles. </p>
<p>After Neon’s introduction, the blonde guy sits up from leaning to look at his teammate; his expression is cool and composed. “He’s our baby.” He nods in Neon’s direction. “We <em> will </em> kill if anyone hurts him.” As Neon stammers, he smiles, almost angelic. “My name is New, by the way. “I manage the group. Tech and whatnot. I was the one sending you the intel.” He flicks his head so his hair is out of his eyes. “I’d like to meet whoever is doing your security. Gave me a bit of trouble to get our messages to you.” </p>
<p>Younghoon coughs from the front. “I’m one half of our tech team,” he looks through the rearview mirror. New tilts his head and hums. </p>
<p>“We should talk,” he says simply and sits back in his seat. </p>
<p>Kevin is quiet throughout, and for a moment, Jacob finally has a chance to just stare at him. He looks tired: there are deep dark circles under his eyes and the diffused light from the van windows softens his angular face. </p>
<p>With initial introductions done though, Kevin finally speaks. </p>
<p>“I don’t think the earpieces picked it up but there is a reason we’re here.” Kevin sits up straight and angles himself to face Sangyeon. “As we had said in the messages, our organization, EN-Net, abandoned us.” Sangyeon hums and crosses his arms, tilting his head to encourage Kevin to continue. </p>
<p>Kevin takes a deep breath, steeling himself. “We’re honestly glad to be out but we don’t want to be free agents. So, as I proposed to your two agents,” he pauses. Jacob sees that Kevin’s whole body is rigid. </p>
<p>“We’d like to join Creaker.” </p>
<p>He’s met with silence. Sangyeon’s eyes are wide and his mouth falls open. All of K.C.E fidgets nervously. </p>
<p>Suddenly, a flurry of noises crackles over the van’s speaker. </p>
<p>“K.C.E wants to join?!” A tinny voice spits through their monitor system making them all jump. They’re reminded that Sunwoo and Jaehyun are watching from their base. When Jacob looks at the video stream of their two other members, he can’t help smiling as he sees Sunwoo leaning forward closer to the camera, his eyes wide. </p>
<p>Jaehyun shoves Sunwoo away from the camera. “They got all that intel,” Jaehyun offers, continuing to push Sunwoo away to say his opinion. “Obviously, they’re skilled. Get them over here so we can interrogate them.” </p>
<p>Sunwoo pushes back at Jaehyun and leans up to the camera again. “New? That’s that bastard’s name? Fucker got through my security like fifty times to send those messages, I want to meet this absolute shithead,” Sunwoo nearly growls. </p>
<p>New snorts in surprise then starts to lightly laugh; it’s a bright noise that fills the van and it seems to break the tension a little. </p>
<p>“Okay, okay, we’ll be back at base in twenty,” Sangyeon rolls his eyes but his tone is fond. He looks at the camera so Sunwoo and Jaehyun can see him addressing them. “Prep the meeting room. We have a lot to talk about.” When he gets their affirmation, he leans back and slightly unwinds; the rest of the van follows. </p>
<p>Everyone in the van seems to relax a little. From his peripheral, Jacob watches Kevin slump a little in his seat and Neon whisper something in his ear. </p>
<p>They drive in peaceful silence for about ten minutes when Juyeon suddenly sits up. </p>
<p>“Why me?” He directs his question at K.C.E, his brows furrowed. His body is tense and Jacob can almost see the angry energy buzzing through him. The tension in the van rises again. </p>
<p>He knows Juyeon is angry that he got caught. The man’s expectations for himself are astronomical so he sees K.C.E’s identification of him as a failure. And they all know how much Juyeon hates failing. </p>
<p>New tilts his head but appears to catch on quickly to Juyeon’s vague question. “You’re talking about the security footage?” Juyeon nods, his expression tight. Kevin sits up then and faces Juyeon, his expression calm. </p>
<p>“I’ve done a couple of sniper missions where I’ve seen you,” he speaks gently. “I’ve never engaged with you, obviously, but New likes to keep track of who we cross paths with. He dug a little-” </p>
<p><em> “A lot,” </em> New interrupts and Kevin sighs but smiles. </p>
<p>“He dug <em> a lot.” </em> He amends. “And confirmed you’re from Creaker. I promise you that we only kept note of it.” Some hair falls into Kevin’s eyes, slightly blocking Jacob’s view of his expression. “We didn’t even get your name; we just wanted to get your organization.” Kevin’s tone is soft and Jacob is a little impressed that he picked up on Juyeon’s tension that quickly. Juyeon’s blank expression is an effective poker face a majority of the time. </p>
<p>Jacob is also reminded that he somehow has to explain that he and Kevin are acquainted. </p>
<p>He sits up then and nods towards his teammates. “We shouldn’t get too into anything till we're on base.” Sangyeon and Changmin nod and he sees Juyeon pout. When Jacob cocks an eyebrow, the younger agent sighs but nods. In an attempt to pacify him, Jacob juts his thumb in Kevin’s direction. “Moonlighter here can explain-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p><em> “</em><em>Moonlighter?!” </em> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of his teammates yell out simultaneously. Jacob forgot that Kevin only introduced himself as Vinny. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin jerks back, his eyes wide in shock. Everyone in the van looks at him, and he furrows his brows, his confusion evident.</p>
<p>“Uh… Yeah, that’s also a name I go by…?” He looks so genuinely confused that Jacob can’t help the burst of laughter that escapes. As everyone in the van then turns to look at him in shock, Kevin side-eyes him. </p>
<p>“I see you’ve spoken of me, Jacob,” Kevin tilts his head and the tight smile he aims at him is ominous. That just punches another laugh out of Jacob. The situation is becoming ridiculous and Jacob can’t help the laughter bubbling in his chest. </p>
<p>Sangyeon’s expression is cycling through several emotions but lands on a combination of frustration and confusion. His other members are still looking at him in shock. </p>
<p>“Wait, fuck, you’re <em> that </em> Jacob?” New suddenly gasps loudly. Neon gasps too and whips his head to look at Jacob. New leans forward to look at him, his expression a mix of shock and curiosity. “You’re <em> the </em> Jacob who we kept running into?!” </p>
<p>Jacob, a little shocked to hear his name, nods, still trying to stifle his laughter. He looks at Kevin then. “And I see you’ve spoken of me,” he gets out past some remaining giggles. </p>
<p>Kevin stares at him, his expression unreadable. After a moment, he lets out a deep sigh and turns his face away; New leans back into his seat with a little <em>whew. </em> </p>
<p>“So let me get this straight,” Sangyeon interjects, the noise in the van quieting immediately at his solemn tone. “You’re Kevin Moon,” he says, pointing to him.</p>
<p>Kevin’s face scrunches up as he looks at Jacob again. “You told them my name?” He complains, pouting. Jacob shrugs, briefly trying to not think about how Kevin looks a little cute. Sangyeon clears his throat, pulling Jacob from his thoughts. </p>
<p>“After you two ran into each other for the twentieth time, we <em>had </em>to get a name,” Sangyeon explains, a little exasperated. “The point is, you and Jacob know each other.” Their leader turns his attention to Jacob then. “And why did it take this long for you to mention this, Jacob?” </p>
<p>Now under the spotlight, Jacob tenses. Kevin has a little smirk on his face, obviously enjoying seeing him squirm. He huffs, “I figured I’d mention it eventually.” Sangyeon looks like he’s ready to argue so he gestures to their three new occupants and their team. “There’s a lot going on and there wasn’t really a moment to bring it up.” </p>
<p>Haknyeon raises his hand. “To be fair, I identified him before Jacob did. And it’s because I know, uh, Vinny. Moonlighter? As a master sniper.” Kevin’s lips quirk at the label. “So, uh. Jacob didn’t get a chance to ID him separately.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon‘s brows scrunch up, obviously unhappy. Jacob feels exhausted, already dreading the “talk” Sangyeon is going to have with him. After a moment though, his expression smooths out into something more diplomatic. </p>
<p>“Well. That does explain some things,” he pacifies the group—and himself. “Jacob is right. We’ll get the whole story at base.” He nods to K.C.E and they nod back. Creaker’s agents all settle then, accepting their leader’s unsaid call for calm. Jacob gives Haknyeon a nudge and a smile. </p>
<p>For the rest of the ride, Jacob occasionally glances at Kevin, turning away when he thinks the other is looking. </p>
<p>When Jacob is occupied with speaking to his teammates, Kevin watches him, his eyes wandering to the other’s lips.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hope this was a nice read! Kinda have to get them from one place to another first. An aside, but when I was looking for Eric's codename, I found out "Neon" was a proposed stage name for him which... Yeah, I'm glad they went with Eric haha. </p>
<p>If you want, you can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">twitter!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Who The Hell Are You?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>It's time to find out who their guests are.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry, this is a bit of a late update! It's real plot-heavy (explain-y) so it took a little to write and edit, welp. I hope you enjoy it!<br/>("Who the hell are you?" is apparently a line in Shine Shine, according to the color-coded translated lyrics and idk, it does fit!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>Sunwoo and Jaehyun are waiting in the garage of their base, ready to greet them. Sangyeon jumps out first and directs Changmin and Younghoon to escort Kevin, New, and Neon through a door that goes around the house and into the meeting room. </p>
<p>As the five of them turn the corner, Sangyeon calls out, “Jacob. Come with me.” He nods at him, then walks to the other door that leads into their home space. After quickly checking in with Jaehyun to assure him he wasn’t injured, Jacob goes to follow Sangyeon. He sees Juyeon and Haknyeon give him sympathetic looks and he just waves them off. </p>
<p>He follows Sangyeon a couple of steps into the entryway; when Sangyeon wordlessly nods at the door, Jacob turns and grimaces as he closes it. </p>
<p>“Okay, listen,” he starts, turning back to face Sangyeon and already expecting to get berated for his life choices. </p>
<p>“Nope, Jacob, <em> shh,” </em> Sangyeon cuts him off, holding his pointer finger to his lips. Jacob huffs but stops himself. His leader pauses to examine Jacob’s expression and he squirms a little under the pressure of his gaze. After a moment, he begins to speak. </p>
<p>“You did what you did because you recognized Moonlighter.” Sangyeon raises a brow and waits for Jacob to answer. </p>
<p>Jacob can feel the guilt slowly seep into his bones. It doesn’t help that Sangyeon knows about his and Kevin’s flirting, so this looks infinitely worse. He has to answer though. </p>
<p>“Yes,” he replies, his throat tight. “I operated on that <em>but </em>also on hearing the guard say that they took out a supplier, and,” he tries to explain but Sangyeon shakes his head, cutting Jacob off. </p>
<p>“What if they weren’t K.C.E?” </p>
<p>“That’s an unfair question,” Jacob frowns. “They’d still be hostages who were being threatened to be killed. And we had the knowledge they were agents,” he reasons. He can see Sangyeon doesn’t look convinced and honestly, he isn’t so sure his reasoning is valid either. After an extended pointed stare from Sangyeon, he sighs out, “I’m too nice.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon nods. “You are.” He runs a hand through his hair and looks away, giving Jacob a brief reprieve. “I won’t rag on the <em>what if's</em> but we’re lucky they ended up being K.C.E and they’re lucky you recognized Kevin Moon,” He looks back at Jacob again, his expression fond. “But Jacob, you’re much too kind sometimes,” he scolds him. “I know this was a unique situation and we haven’t dealt with a hostage situation like this before but next time, you <em>have to </em>give me a better reason than them being agents,” Sangyeon huffs a little laugh at remembering Jacob’s words. </p>
<p>Jacob sinks into himself a little. His leader says he’s kind but he thinks the eldest is the kindest. </p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Jacob says, the mounting guilt making him feel ill, but his leader just shakes his head and reaches out to clap him on his shoulder. </p>
<p>“I accept your apology. Just, talk to me more next time,” he smiles warmly. “It’s as much as it is for me as it is for your safety too, man.” Jacob nods and Sangyeon pulls back, a satisfied smile on his face. His face lights up then and he pokes Jacob’s shoulder. “Also, if you had just told me he was Moonlighter from the get-go, I would’ve given you the okay.” </p>
<p>Jacob looks up, baffled. “Wait, what? Seriously? Why?” Sangyeon’s expression turns mischievous. </p>
<p>“A chance to finally meet the incredibly dangerous rival agent who’s made <em>our </em> Jacob Bae blush? How could I miss that!” </p>
<p>Jacob rolls his eyes. “Sang, seriously,” he groans but smiles when he sees his friend grinning. Sangyeon lightly punches Jacob’s arm and turns around, gesturing for him to follow him and make their way to the meeting room. </p>
<p>“Also, I get what you meant, Jacob.” At his confused noise, Sangyeon looks over his shoulder and smirks. “Moonlighter is definitely annoyingly beautiful.” </p>
<p>Jacob coughs and stammers and Sangyeon has to stifle his own laughter as he smacks Jacob’s back. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They both quickly school themselves into solemn expressions when they enter the meeting room. When they walk in, everyone looks up at them. </p>
<p>Changmin and Younghoon situated K.C.E into three chairs on one side of the room while the rest of them sit on the other side, huddled around their meeting table. There’s a weird tension created from Creaker’s agents’ curiosity and suspicion of the three new men. </p>
<p>Sunwoo breaks the tense silence when he lets out a loud sigh of relief. </p>
<p><em> “Finally! </em> They wouldn’t let me ask any questions till you two came,” he pouts and points at Younghoon and Jaehyun. Younghoon rolls his eyes and Jaehyun shrugs; Jacob has to remind himself not to laugh at his teammate’s theatrics. </p>
<p>“Thank <em> you </em> for waiting, Sunwoo,” Sangyeon says jokingly. Their youngest agent bows and all their agents smile fondly. He turns his attention to K.C.E then. </p>
<p>They’re all sitting quietly. Kevin has both of his feet on the floor, his posture rigid. New has his legs crossed, relaxing a little into the chair, and Neon is obviously trying to appear relaxed but he continues to fidget. </p>
<p>After examining them for a moment, Sangyeon sighs and turns to Jacob. “We can take the handcuffs off.” </p>
<p><em> “Oh thank god,” </em> New sighs loudly and they watch as he pulls his hands from behind his back and presents his opened handcuffs. “Here, I made sure not to break them so they still work.” </p>
<p>Kevin pouts and holds up his broken handcuffs with one hand. “Sorry, had to break mine open.”</p>
<p>“Wait, wait, almost,” Neon grumbles. Kevin and New lean over to watch him and a second later he holds up his own opened handcuffs. New grabs them and tries to lock them; they click uselessly. </p>
<p>“I win,” the blonde man sing-songs, tossing the broken handcuffs back to Neon. He looks up at Sangyeon then and tilts his head in apology. “Sorry, but I imagine you all understand.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon’s eyebrows are raised and he just huffs; Jacob can see he’s unable to keep the amusement from his eyes. “I appreciate you at least giving us the illusion of keeping your hands behind your back,” he says, bringing both hands to his hips. New just smiles, his expression relieved. </p>
<p>The rest of Creaker just look on, slightly baffled but impressed. It makes sense: agents at their skill level should be able to easily get out of handcuffs and it’s not surprising that they did that despite their proposition for joining their organization. It’s a business where trust is hard to find and they had all the right to prepare for a worst-case scenario. </p>
<p>With a nod from Sangyeon, Jacob makes his way over to them to take the handcuffs. When he approaches Kevin first, he doesn’t look up at Jacob as he holds up the handcuffs for him to take. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It shouldn’t bother him but Jacob is slightly annoyed that Kevin is acting like they didn’t make out a few months ago. The black-haired man is pointedly looking somewhere behind Jacob and he suddenly feels an urge to be petty. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When he takes the cuffs from Kevin, he brushes his fingers against his wrist, lingering slightly over Kevin’s pulse point. </p>
<p>He can’t help the sliver of satisfaction when he sees Kevin jump slightly and quickly glance at him, his brows furrowing. Jacob looks away, consciously trying to hide his smile. </p>
<p>After he retrieves the other two handcuffs, he shuffles over to Haknyeon, their inventory keeper. </p>
<p>Jacob goes to lean against the wall as Sangyeon pulls out a chair and places it across from K.C.E, sitting down with a deep sigh. </p>
<p>“Alright, let’s get this started. Who exactly are you and what happened.” Their leader crosses his arms and fixes the three men with his imposing gaze. </p>
<p>Kevin, now clearly their designated spokesperson, sits up and clears his throat. </p>
<p>“We <em>were </em>three agents employed by EN-Network. Our unit name is K.C.E.” Kevin points to himself, New, then Neon, as he says the acronym. </p>
<p>“We told your two agents that we were the best unit in EN-Net. This isn’t just me unnecessarily bragging: EN-Net employed contract agents but they do have in-house units. Of the seven, ours have a perfect success rate. Because of that though, they overwhelmed us with random missions.” Kevin huffs, his annoyance with their previous employer obvious. </p>
<p>“Two years ago, on one of these random missions, we discovered a pipeline of weapon suppliers that all connected to Sun Corp. Is that about the time you found them too…?” Kevin pauses then and looks at their leader, arching an eyebrow. </p>
<p>“It would be about two years for us too, yeah,” Jacob answers for them. Kevin shifts his gaze to him and finally, the black-haired man holds his gaze. </p>
<p>“That explains why we kept running into each other,” Kevin breathes out, and for a split second, Jacob sees something different in the other’s eyes. New coughs and Kevin quickly looks away. </p>
<p>“We found one of these suppliers from an average, “send a message with a non-lethal shot” mission from a smaller gang, but once we did some digging, we learned of Sun Corp’s whole deal,” New chimes in. “At the time, it was just Kevin and me. We saw the larger picture and decided we wanted to start picking away at Sun Corp’s control over the city. So we started declining missions from EN-Net so we could focus on investigating Sun Corp.” </p>
<p>Obviously, a company like EN-Net wouldn’t approve of insubordination like that. </p>
<p>“They tried to slow us down: they thought adding… Neon. They thought adding him to our unit would slow us down,” Kevin says, his face scrunching at the hiccup. He looks at his teammates then. “If we’re going to be working together, can we drop the code names?”  </p>
<p>“Oh, please, let’s, it’s been kinda weird hearing it repeated over and over.” Neon speaks in one breath then whips his head around to grin at all of them then. “Hi, I’m Eric!” He waves excitedly. </p>
<p>New flicks his bangs out of his face and huffs. “Chanhee,” he says simply, pointing at himself. All of Creaker murmur greetings in return, awkwardly nodding towards the three agents. </p>
<p>Kevin proceeds to explain that EN-Net thought adding Eric to their unit would slow them down; instead, Kevin and Chanhee welcomed Eric with open arms and trained him efficiently, quickly re-claiming their best unit title. They also didn’t slow down on their investigation into Sun Corp and their efforts eventually accumulated to them targeting the gang’s weapon supply branch. </p>
<p>“I’m unsure if you came across this because we eliminated them completely, but we took out Kang’s Weapons, one of Sun Corp’s weapon suppliers.” As Kevin says this, several members of Creaker gasp out loud. </p>
<p>Jacob recalls the guard at Sun Corp’s warehouse mentioning them taking out a supplier. He’s not sure what he thought but completely eliminating an entire group is an incredible feat; it’s also incredibly dangerous. Kevin doesn’t give them any time to process this though and continues to speak. </p>
<p>“EN-Net found out we did this while on the clock and decided that we had gone too far, I guess,” Kevin rolls his eyes, as do his other two teammates. His face darkens then. “We got a message that they were going to start restricting our resources. That was when we began sending you our intel because we had a feeling they wouldn’t stop at just restricting us.” </p>
<p>Kevin shifts in his seat then, his expression suddenly void of emotion. “We then found out Sun Corp put a bounty on our heads.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon sucks in a loud breath. “That’s a problem.” </p>
<p>“We’ve already dealt with two bounty hunters who thought they could try it,” Eric interjects, the dark expression on his face a stark contrast to his previously sunny aura. Chanhee lays a hand on his knee, and he sinks back down into the seat. Kevin had turned to look at him when he spoke, and after a nod from Eric, he faces them to continue speaking. </p>
<p>“EN-Net also found out about the bounty.” Kevin takes a deep breath and crosses his arms, his shoulders tense. </p>
<p>“How did they put it?” Chanhee mutters. The blonde man looks up at Sangyeon, his expression pinched. “They told us they were <em> ‘offsetting their bottom line’ </em> by sending FNS agents directly to us.” There’s a collective gasp from Creaker.</p>
<p>“So that’s how three agents of your skill got captured,” Younghoon calls out. Chanhee cranes his neck to see him and nods when they make eye contact. </p>
<p>Chanhee and Kevin explain they had enough time to send that last message to them before FNS descended upon the office space they had at EN-Net. When Chanhee mentions he sent out their initial message to other organizations, Jacob perks up. </p>
<p>“Wait, so other organizations were aware of the meeting?” Kevin looks over when Jacob speaks; his expression is still unreadable. “So what if some other org got to you before us?” </p>
<p>“Then we would’ve asked to join them,” Chanhee answers easily. He sits up straight and addresses all of Creaker. “Your organization was the ideal one we wanted to join but we had to keep our options open. I hope you understand that it was a matter of accounting for the worst.” </p>
<p>Jacob watches Kevin listen to Chanhee, nodding along. </p>
<p>He doesn’t want to address the relief he feels that they were the ones to find Kevin. The idea that they could have potentially gone and joined another organization fills Jacob with unreasonable jealousy and he has to look down at his shoes to focus on something other than his turbulent thoughts. </p>
<p>“So that’s what happened that got us to now.” Kevin’s voice pulls Jacob from his thoughts and he watches as the black-haired man looks to Sangyeon, his expression shifting into something slightly anxious. </p>
<p>The tension in the room slowly rises the longer Sangyeon stays quiet. From where he’s standing, Jacob is the only one who can see their leader’s face and he watches as the eldest obviously contemplates all this information. Jacob wouldn't ever speak for their group but even he begins to feel restless the longer the silence goes on. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t understand something.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>As soon as Sangyeon speaks, all of K.C.E sit up, their backs rigid; Kevin moves to the edge of his seat. “What can we clarify,” he asks. Sangyeon looks up then and slowly stands up. </p>
<p>“You eliminated an entire supplier. You could’ve just neutered them but to eliminate them is… extreme. So why? And <em> how?” </em> As he speaks, Sangyeon turns his back to them to return his chair to their meeting table, giving them time to answer. With his back to them, Kevin glances at Chanhee and Eric; Jacob sees their expressions become panicked. </p>
<p>“Kev, no, wait,” Chanhee suddenly stammers out. Kevin stands up and when Sangyeon turns to face him again, the black-haired man’s expression is cold. Jacob can see his knuckles are white from how hard he’s clenching his fist. </p>
<p>“We infiltrated the supplier’s base with the intention to just get intel. What we found was that they weren’t just supplying weapons.” Kevin’s voice is tight. He closes his eyes for a second, his brows furrowing. After a deep inhale, he opens his eyes and they’re filled with fiery anger. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There were children there.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The room is deathly quiet. </p>
<p>Kevin runs a hand through his hair, his expression frustrated. “Listen, I’m going to be transparent with you because you all deserve it.”</p>
<p>“Kevin, it wasn’t just you,” Chanhee interrupts suddenly, his face pale. </p>
<p>“Chanhee.” Kevin looks over his shoulder, and Chanhee’s face falls, his eyes becoming sad. Kevin turns to look at them again, his expression determined.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I stole intel EN-Net had on the supplier and compiled that with the intel we had and sent it all to the Feds.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The temperature in the room feels like it drops a degree and Jacob becomes tense at the noticeable shift in the room. Kevin visibly stiffens but continues on. </p>
<p>“I found out about an officer who takes that kind of info from people like us, so I contacted him and just dumped all of it to him. We couldn’t do anything but they could—and they did.” Kevin is looking at a point over Sangyeon’s shoulders; he’s met with silence from Creaker. </p>
<p>It’s an unspoken rule for organizations like theirs to never associate with the government. They stay in their lane as long as the Feds stay in theirs. Contact with any federal agent exposes the whole organization to the hand of the law and could potentially ripple out to hundreds of other organizations. Kevin took a huge risk doing what he did and likely put EN-Net on the government’s radar. </p>
<p>Someone from their side—it sounds like Haknyeon—whispers, “Fuck.” </p>
<p>Kevin squeezes his eyes shut again and runs another frustrated hand through his hair. “I know morals mean nothing in this line of work but, I just,” his voice breaks a little. “I’m fucking tired. When I saw that shit, I wasn’t going to just leave it alone. And I know we don’t do that kind of stuff, but…” he stops himself. </p>
<p>When he opens his eyes, he looks up at Sangyeon, imploring. </p>
<p>“There were 12 kids,” Kevin says softly, his whole body slumping. “They’re safe now.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The room is silent. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jacob stares at Kevin in awe. </p>
<p>Conventionally, what Kevin did would immediately blacklist him from any organization in their field. He disobeyed orders, stole information, and exposed his organization. What he did is considered unforgivable in their line of work.</p>
<p>But there’s no regret in his eyes; instead, there is only fiery resolution. </p>
<p>And the only thought in Jacob’s mind is how extraordinary Kevin is.</p>
<p>The room is still silent, Kevin’s words rendering all of them speechless. Chanhee and Eric are doing a terrible job at hiding their anxiety but Kevin stands there, an indomitable wall between them and his team. </p>
<p>Sangyeon takes a deep breath and finally speaks. </p>
<p>“You don’t regret it.” It’s not a question. </p>
<p>“No.” Kevin raises his chin slightly.</p>
<p>The amount of risks he’s taking is almost unbelievable. On paper, he presents a huge liability with insurmountable baggage: he could defect to the Feds again and K.C.E has at least one huge gang likely hunting for them. </p>
<p>Jacob feels himself start moving forward, his mind a mess of logical conclusions and bright cat-like eyes, void of any fear. Before he can get to Sangyeon though, their leader is already speaking. </p>
<p>“Would you do it again?” Sangyeon has moved to stand in front of Kevin. His presence is a little suffocating, the quiet power he holds exactly why they all follow him. But Kevin doesn’t shrink under Sangyeon’s stare; rather, he stands up straighter, boldly preparing to defend him and his team. </p>
<p>“Absolutely.” Kevin meets Sangyeon’s stare with fire.</p>
<p>The whole room is holding their breath. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sangyeon sticks his hand out. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Welcome to Creaker.” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin’s eyes widen, his jaw dropping a little. His moment of surprise doesn’t last long though, and he eagerly grasps Sangyeon’s hand, his smile blinding.</p>
<p>“We look forward to working with y’all.”</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you if you're reading this, and thank you for getting through this, admittedly, explain-y chapter. I hope to get the next chapter out sooner than later! </p>
<p>As always, you can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">twitter!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Like A Mysterious Fate</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Introductions, a tour, and a needed hug.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm alive! Sorry this chapter is so late. Life got ahead of me, projects have due dates, and this chapter is also plot-heavy--AND LONG. 5.4k words pals, welp. Thank you for waiting and I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p>A shake of the hand begins Kevin, Chanhee, and Eric’s integration into Creaker. </p>
<p>Once Sangyeon calls for the meeting’s end, it’s like everyone releases a collective sigh of relief. Chanhee and Eric stand from their seats and join Kevin to speak to Sangyeon about the next actions they’ll all need to take. He tells them that they’ll need to sit down and do a thorough rundown of their whole careers—those resumes Kevin mentioned—but that they can save that for tomorrow. After a moment, Sangyeon calls Jacob over to properly introduce himself to Chanhee and Eric. </p>
<p>“We’ve been going off Kevin’s description of you for so long that it’s strange to finally put a face to the name,” Chanhee smiles as they shake hands. Jacob chuckles and looks at Kevin but is met with the back of his head. He’s speaking to Sangyeon about something so Jacob turns back to Chanhee and Eric. He isn’t sure what to make of the slightly mischievous expressions on the two’s faces. Before he can ask about it, Sunwoo and Younghoon descend on them. </p>
<p>“You’re the one who got through all 32 layers of my security?” Sunwoo points an accusatory finger at Chanhee, surprising a laugh out of him. </p>
<p>“More like 29, but yes, I did that,” Chanhee retorts back and accents it with a sweet smile. Younghoon snorts and grips Sunwoo’s shoulder. </p>
<p>“This is Sunwoo. He’s the other half of our tech team.” Chanhee shakes the hand Younghoon offers, tilting his head towards him in question. “Oh, I’m Younghoon.”</p>
<p>Chanhee grins at the two of them. “I look forward to us working together. And Sunwoo,” he turns his attention to their fiery tech guy and holds a hand out. “I know I joked but I did have legitimate trouble getting through to you. So I would like to learn from you too.” </p>
<p>Jacob watches, amused, as Sunwoo falters over the praise from the pretty man while shaking his hand, a slight blush coloring his cheeks.</p>
<p>With Younghoon and Sunwoo initiating introductions, the rest of the agents begin to crowd around them, eager to finally talk to their new members. </p>
<p>Jacob and Sangyeon drift to the side, amusement on their faces as they watch their younger members all speak to the three men. There’s a cautious excitement all of them hold and while there is still some slight tension from valid suspicion of new people, the appeal of new members pulls most of the members out of their uncertainty. </p>
<p>And he wishes he could focus on the others but Jacob’s eyes keep drifting to watch Kevin. The black-haired man looks animated, his expression bright as he speaks excitedly to Haknyeon. </p>
<p>Jacob hasn’t ever seen Kevin like this. They’ve only had passing moments together and during most of them, the other man would act sultry and tease him. So he’s fascinated—enamored, almost—watching Kevin smile warmly and nod along to whatever Haknyeon is talking to him about. </p>
<p>“Oh! Chanhee and Eric! That’s the ‘C’ and the ‘E’!” Changmin yells loudly, breaking Jacob from his reverie. Chanhee coughs out a laugh, covering his mouth with his hand, and Changmin flushes in embarrassment but smiles when they all see Chanhee burst into laughter. </p>
<p>Now that all of them are acquainted, Sangyeon calls for them to start dispersing. Younghoon, Sunwoo, Changmin, and Sangyeon pull Chanhee towards their security set-up after Kevin loudly reminds them they have to get the audio files from the bugs they have at the warehouse. </p>
<p>Sangyeon makes eye contact with Jacob then nods to Kevin and Eric. When he then looks to the two new agents, he sees that Haknyeon and Juyeon are having animated conversations with the two of them. When he calls them over, they’re both nearly vibrating with energy. </p>
<p>“I want to show our weapon room and shooting range to Vinny,” Haknyeon tells Jacob, obviously eager to show off. Juyeon slides over too and juts a thumb at Eric. </p>
<p>“And I wanna show our sparring room to Eric.” Juyeon looks equally excited to show off and Jacob can’t help the fond smile he gives the two younger agents.</p>
<p>With a gentle push, Jacob nods towards the door. “Lead the way,” he tells him. </p>
<p>After calling Jaehyun over to join them, their group begins to do a short tour of their base. Jacob and Jaehyun trail behind the group, listening to Juyeon and Haknyeon introduce various rooms they pass by. Jacob mindlessly listening to Eric excitedly ask Juyeon numerous questions. The usually cool and collected guy seems to be greatly affected by Eric’s energy and Jacob is a little surprised to see Juyeon eagerly matching the pink-haired man’s enthusiasm. </p>
<p>Haknyeon is an affable person so it’s not surprising to see him and Kevin easily getting along. They’re also both the solo snipers in their respective groups so it’s not shocking they’ve quickly acquainted. As the younger agent starts to explain his extensive firearm inventory, he stops and looks at Kevin, his expression suddenly anxious. </p>
<p>“Wait, are you all completely without weapons, then?” Haknyeon’s tone is worried, his mind already doing the calculations to account for supplying three new agents. </p>
<p>“Oh! No, no, as soon as EN-Net sent us that “we’re cutting you off” message, we stored all our stuff away. That <em> will </em> have to be a trip out into the city, though.” Kevin’s assurance makes Haknyeon relax and Jacob makes a note to tell Sangyeon that it appears they’ll have to plan for a day to retrieve all of K.C.E’s stuff. </p>
<p>After passing by an office room and kitchen, they arrive at their sparring room. When they enter the large space with floor-to-ceiling windows on their north-facing wall, Eric <em> ooo’s </em> and wanders in, eyeing the various equipment they have lying around. Kevin whistles at the view of the forest surrounding their base. </p>
<p>Eric starts exclaiming as he examines their collection of training weapons and various other workout equipment. “You didn’t have something like this at EN-Net?” Juyeon asks, laughing a little when Eric starts picking up some of their training weapons and jabbing them in Juyeon’s direction. Jaehyun trots over and joins in, playfully pretending to be wounded when Eric gently hits him with a baton. </p>
<p>“We did, but they were like gyms with those competitive gym rats. Every person was trying to prove something and you couldn’t train in peace without some dude walking up to you and challenging you to a sparring match,” Kevin rolls his eyes as he wanders closer to the windows to look out, his eyes wide in awe. </p>
<p>Eric scoffs. “They were trying to flirt with you, Kev.” When Kevin turns around to pout, Eric throws a training knife at him. Kevin catches it at its hilt without flinching and purses his lips, spinning the knife and jutting his hip out. </p>
<p>“None of them were worth my time,” Kevin concludes, nonchalant, and looks around the room. Kevin eyes a target sitting on the floor as Jaehyun laughs at his answer; with a quick flick of his wrist, he flings the knife. </p>
<p>When the knife hits the target with a loud <em>twak! </em> and Eric and Haknyeon hoot, Kevin glances at Jacob. As the four other agents examine Kevin’s work, they hold each other’s gaze.</p>
<p>It’s strange. Jacob feels like he can suddenly read Kevin like an open book. He sees fondness and an apology and he watches, fascinated, as Kevin’s lips pull into a small smile. </p>
<p>Juyeon’s awed voice breaks the moment. They both jerk their heads up and after Juyeon urges Kevin over, they join the four; Haknyeon compliments Kevin on hitting a bullseye on an angled target and Eric starts to brag that Kevin has a knife-throwing talent. </p>
<p>As the four of them start to discuss their knife skills, Jacob makes a note to eventually address Kevin silently mouthing, <em> “You’re worth my time.” </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Haknyeon proudly shows Kevin and Eric their weapons collection. While Eric appears to have a solid knowledge of various handguns and shotguns, it’s Kevin’s starry-eyed expression that makes Haknyeon puff up in pride. With a nod from Jacob, the two snipers become immersed in admiring Haknyeon’s inventory. </p>
<p>As the two of them go off on their own to explore the room, Eric shuffles over to where Juyeon, Jaehyun, and Jacob are relaxing. They greet him and after some small talk, Eric looks at Jacob then, his expression shy. </p>
<p>“Hey, uh, didn’t really get a chance to say it but thanks for helping us out back at the warehouse,” Eric says, his tone softer and genuine. After seeing how high energy he is, the three of them share a glance, surprised at this toned-down Eric. His next words explain the energy shift. </p>
<p>“It really felt like we were shouting into the void for a while and it was looking like no one was going to come for us. I was really worried that was gonna be the end for us.” </p>
<p>Jacob is surprised by the sudden vulnerability Eric displays. He gets why Kevin and Chanhee seem very protective of him then: Eric is obviously a younger agent and despite the slightly chaotic energy he exudes, he still holds something youthful in him. </p>
<p>Jacob bumps his shoulder and tries to give him his most comforting smile. “It’s good things worked out. Sounds like Chanhee really went above and beyond to send those messages.” </p>
<p>“Oh, he stayed up for like, three days for that! You guys were the only ones who we could get confirmation you continued to receive our messages. He sent out a bunch to others but most of them bounced back after the first message.” </p>
<p>That’s new information. When Chanhee told them they sent messages to other organizations, their assumption was that there was a possibility that other agents could’ve shown up. Hearing that they were the only ones who kept opening the messages carries potentially terrifying possibilities. </p>
<p>“Why… Why us?” Jacob stammers, realizing the gravity of their decision to follow through with those initial messages. Eric shrugs and then looks at Kevin. </p>
<p>The black-haired man is still speaking to Haknyeon, the two of them huddling over an opened rifle case. When Eric looks back at him, his expression is earnest. </p>
<p>“You guys were really the only other org that actively targets Sun Corp so you’d have to have some morales and guts to do so.” Eric addresses the three of them but turns to look Jacob in the eye. “And Kevin was the one who insisted we make the effort to contact you. I’m glad he did. Y’all are much cooler than some of the other orgs we tried contacting.”  </p>
<p>Jacob isn’t sure how to process this information. Juyeon and Jaehyun continue talking to Eric; they explain that it was their impressive amount of evidence they provided that convinced them to take their messages seriously. </p>
<p>Juyeon is in the middle of telling Eric how annoyed he was that he got ID’d when Haknyeon and Kevin rejoin them. They’re still eagerly talking and Haknyeon gasps at something Kevin says. </p>
<p>“Haknyeon, I’m <em>so </em>excited for you to see some of the stuff I’ve collected,” Kevin says as they rejoin them, his face split into a wide grin. The two snipers exude happy energy and Jacob can’t help the smile that grows on his face when he sees how excited Haknyeon looks. </p>
<p>As they exit the room, Jacob throws an arm around their sniper’s shoulder. “Having fun, Haknyeon?” Jacob smiles as he peeks at the younger’s expression and isn’t surprised to see him appear to be buzzing with excitement. </p>
<p>Haknyeon grins back, his eyes bright. “It’s going to be really cool to have another sniper around.” He bumps his hip against Jacob’s and speeds ahead so he can lead their group to the shooting range. </p>
<p>Jacob has always known that Haknyeon, as their lone sniper, has always felt a particular burden to excel. It’s not exactly how he imagined they’d gain new agents but he’s excited for Haknyeon to finally have a fellow sniper on their team. And from what he’s been learning, Kevin is an excellent addition that Haknyeon greatly admires. </p>
<p>When they get to the door for the shooting range, Haknyeon lets Kevin and Eric peek in.</p>
<p>“I wouldn’t expect less from a perfectionist,” Kevin says after whistling in awe. The rest of the group hangs back as Haknyeon points things out to their new members. Kevin, especially, is listening with rapt attention, his eyes nearly sparkling at what Haknyeon is bragging about.</p>
<p>“When you get your stuff, we’re going to be spending a lot of time here,” Haknyeon insists to Kevin and the other sniper doesn’t hesitate to nod back enthusiastically. </p>
<p>“Oh honey, I’m definitely going to get real comfortable here.” They grin at each other and high-five; Jacob thinks they’ve just witnessed the fastest friendship formed. </p>
<p>Now that they’ve given Kevin and Eric the tour they start to head back to the meeting room. They take a slightly different route back which has them passing by their bedrooms. When Eric rightfully inquires about the hallway, Jacob is reminded that they need to figure out sleeping arrangements for three extra people.  </p>
<p>“For now, we’ll probably just have you three camp out in the living room,” Jacob calls back to Kevin and Eric, his tone apologetic. </p>
<p>“That’s perfectly fine,” Kevin replies, shaking his head at Jacob’s tone.</p>
<p>“Slept in worse!” Eric shrugs and all the agents hum in agreement. They all have their fair share of awful places they’ve had to sleep in. </p>
<p>Back at the meeting room, Sangyeon and the others are chatting amicably. Chanhee is at the center of it, sitting languidly in one of the chairs, and when they all walk in, he’s laughing at something. Kevin is already smiling at the sound and approaches the group, with Eric following; they stand behind Chanhee and Kevin places his hands on his shoulders. </p>
<p>“Seeing as no one looks all doom and gloom, I hope there’s some interesting news?” </p>
<p>Sunwoo releases an exasperated sigh. He waits for their agents to join the group and once all eleven of them are gathered, he summarizes what the audio files provided. </p>
<p>“They agreed to merge. Some papers were signed but then a goon from JYG picked a fight with a Sun Corp guy and all hell broke loose. Then FNS decided to check in on them,” Sunwoo points to Chanhee. “And saw their two K.O’d agents. Got them to wake up and they told everyone that you all had backup. They’re apparently going to try to contact EN-Net and I guess, like, demand a refund or something. Sun Corp just kinda wrote them off as idiots and well.” He pauses then. </p>
<p>“They kind of just left it at that,” Younghoon finishes. The confusion in their tones is evident; they’re all surprised there wasn’t a dramatic reaction to their departure. </p>
<p>“I told them that FNS’s consistent failures have given them a bit of a reputation for being incompetent so it might’ve appeared to Sun Corp as just another example of them bungling something,” Chanhee quips and brushes his bangs out of his eyes. As they all process the information, Chanhee and Kevin share a look. After a moment, Kevin clears his throat. </p>
<p>“While we’re all here, we’d like to extend our gratitude to all of you,” Kevin pulls Eric close to him and drapes an arm over his shoulder. His other hand grips Chanhee’s shoulder. “I speak for all of us when I say that we’re truly grateful you all took a chance on us. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we owe our lives to you all. We promise we’ll work to repay you all for your kindness.” Kevin, Chanhee, and Eric all look at them, their faces serious. </p>
<p>Sunwoo scoffs, immediately breaking the silence. “You dumped like a terabyte of evidence on us. Of course, we were going to believe in you.” He pokes Chanhee’s cheek, surprising all of them. “Besides, after this guy broke through my 32 layers-”</p>
<p>“29,” Chanhee chimes in, and Sunwoo levels him with a death glare. When Chanhee matches it with a raised brow, Younghoon starts laughing. </p>
<p>“My many <em>great </em>layers of security,” Sunwoo stubbornly continues, raising his voice to talk over Younghoon, and now Changmin’s, giggling. “That convinced me you were legit. And it was all stuff dumping on Sun Corp and all their other goons. So yeah, I had a feeling you were all okay dudes.” </p>
<p>“Thanks, dude,” Eric grins, and they clasp hands in an exaggerated handshake.</p>
<p>And that somehow breaks Sangyeon. Their leader starts to laugh loudly and any tension left in the room disappears as others join in. </p>
<p>It’s the first time Jacob hears Kevin laugh. He watches the way his smile pushes up the apples of his cheeks, turning his bright eyes into crescents. The sound of his laughter joins in the chorus of noise in the room, harmonizing perfectly with laughter Jacob already knows. He laughs too, but he’s mesmerized by the new sound and stores away all of these details about Kevin. How he leans over and brings his hands to his face when he starts laughing harder at something Sunwoo says. How he still listens intently but continues to giggle, a hand hovering over his large smile. </p>
<p>“Okay, okay,” Sangyeon calls out, clapping his hands and quieting the noise in the room. It snaps Jacob out of his thoughts; he’s slightly bothered by how easy it is for him to fall into a daze when he watches Kevin. </p>
<p>“We now have eleven people. And it’s eleven guys who all need to eat, shower, and sleep. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow with plenty of growing pains so let’s get as much rest as possible.” There’s a chorus of affirmatives and Sangyeon starts directing people into groups. </p>
<p>As second-in-command, Jacob helps give direction to the younger agents. He focuses on getting their three new agents various supplies; he and Younghoon lead them around the base to find sleeping bags, pillows, extra blankets, and clothes. Chanhee is the most opinionated and takes some time picking out three sleeping bags from their admittedly, badly organized closet. Younghoon helps him, holding the bags up to let him examine them. As the two do that, Jacob turns to Eric and Kevin. </p>
<p>“So, where’s the worst place you’ve slept?” He directs his question at both of them. </p>
<p>It’s not subtle at all how Kevin looks at a point over Jacob’s shoulder, not answering. Eric doesn’t notice and starts adamantly telling Jacob about the time he had to sleep on a boat. He tries to focus on Eric but his gaze flicks to Kevin occasionally; the black-haired man’s eyes are glued to Eric and Jacob feels something tighten in his gut. </p>
<p>When they get to sorting through clothes, they eyeball their heights; Jacob and Eric are close enough in height so he can lend the energetic guy a pair of sweats that should fit. Kevin and Chanhee, both taller than Jacob, hover near Younghoon as he offers them a selection of clothes from his and Juyeon’s room. After they deposit the piles of stuff in the living room, they all migrate into their dining area. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>With eleven people, dinner is a loud affair. </p>
<p>Haknyeon and Sunwoo find out that Eric is younger than them and the three quickly form a trio. They change the relatively civil meal into a fun and rowdy event with loud teasing and bragging. </p>
<p>It’s also a great way for them to learn about their new members. They all learn that it’s easy to make Chanhee laugh; Sunwoo has always been witty but his particular charm seems to set Chanhee off the most. Eric’s high energy means he’s quick to get fiery about a topic he’s invested in. Kevin listens before he joins into discussions and becomes adamant about his point. His brand of theatrics match well with Sunwoo’s and Jacob is slowly realizing that Kevin has an awkward side to him. It’s a stark contrast to the sultry and calculated agent he’s interacted with. But when Kevin makes a strange pun that only Sangyeon acknowledges, Jacob is treated to the sight of a bashful and shy Kevin. As the discussion continues, Kevin settles in his seat.</p>
<p>For a second, from across the table, they make eye contact. </p>
<p>Kevin looks away immediately. </p>
<p>Jacob already knew he wasn't imagining how much Kevin is actively avoiding him. At this point, he’s more confused than annoyed, but it’s a bit surprising how brazen Kevin is being with it. </p>
<p>When they’re cleaning up, it quickly becomes chaotic: there are too many people in the kitchen trying to help. Sangyeon has to start kicking people out; he sends a majority of the group out to the living room, directing them to start configuring the space for the three to sleep in. </p>
<p>Jacob sees that Kevin has a pile of plates in his hands and offers to take them; at first, Kevin is smiling as he turns but when he sees it’s Jacob, he falters. Wordlessly, he quickly hands them over and with a quick nod, hurries out of the kitchen.  </p>
<p>When he brings the plates to the sink, he takes his frustration out on the sponge and plate in his hands. “He’s avoiding me,” Jacob murmurs to Sangyeon. They’re standing shoulder to shoulder as they wash the dishes and Sangyeon glances over at him, his brow furrowed. </p>
<p>“Moonlighter?” Jacob nods and Sangyeon hums. “He probably has a lot on his mind?” Sangyeon offers and hands him another plate. Jacob just huffs and continues to scrub. </p>
<p>By the time they finish cleaning, the living room has been set up for Kevin, Chanhee, and Eric to sleep in so Sangyeon calls it a night. He tells them all to rest up for a 7 AM start tomorrow.</p>
<p>Jacob makes his way to the bathroom and decides to shower and sleep, finally feeling the exhaustion from the day. He’s feeling a little feisty and doesn’t go peek into the living room, figuring if Kevin doesn’t want to look at him, he can avoid him too. </p>
<p>He knows he’s pouting as he settles into his bed but he has all of tomorrow to try to confront Kevin about it. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jacob <em>wanted </em>to get a full night's rest, but his body seemed to have other plans. </p>
<p>He rubs the sleep out of his eyes as he groggily slips out of bed and glares at the bright red 3 AM on his clock. Once he’s awake, it’s hard for him to go back to sleep, so Jacob resigns to the inevitable and decides to start his day early. His throat feels dry so he figures there’s no harm in starting a pot of coffee. </p>
<p>He sees the soft glow from the kitchen as he walks down the hallway. He scoffs, not surprised that it looks like one of his members also failed to sleep through the night; they’re all workaholics with awful sleep schedules so he’s not too surprised to see someone else up. He turns into the kitchen, expecting to see someone in there—and he’s right. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He just wasn’t expecting it to be Kevin. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The laptop on the kitchen counter illuminates Kevin’s angular face and reflects off the clear-framed glasses he’s wearing. He’s looking up at Jacob, his eyes wide. </p>
<p>They stare at each other from across the room and this time, Kevin doesn’t look away. </p>
<p>“You wear glasses,” Jacob blurts out. It’s less of a question and more of a statement. His voice cuts through the white noise of 3 AM and it makes Kevin jump. He sits up straight, having been slouched over the laptop and Jacob sees that he’s wearing an old oversized sweater of Juyeon’s. The neckline of the sweater has been stretched enough that it falls slightly off Kevin’s shoulder. </p>
<p>At Jacob’s comment, Kevin breathes out a laugh. He relaxes and gestures at him to come closer. </p>
<p>“I do. It’s a secret but I’m farsighted,” he says quietly, a small smile gracing his lips. As Jacob walks around the counter to sit next to him, his eyes zero in on an obvious scar running over Kevin's left collarbone.</p>
<p>Scars are interesting in their line of work: it can show experience but it also shows failure. A mistake had to have happened for one to get hit and a story is obviously behind it. </p>
<p>Kevin seems to sense where he’s looking and as he turns to face Jacob, peeks down at his scar. Jacob, feeling bold, scoots his chair closer to Kevin to blatantly examine the scar. </p>
<p>They’ve only ever seen each other in heated moments and have only interacted in dark spaces or under terrible overhead lighting. Now that they’re not on a time limit, with no mission to accomplish, and no imminent danger minutes away, they can just <em>look </em>at each other. </p>
<p>Neither says anything but they both seem to come to the same conclusion that they have some sort of silent agreement that they can <em>touch.</em> So they do. </p>
<p>Jacob reaches out first and pushes the neckline of the sweater down more, lightly running his thumb over the scar line. Kevin tenses a little under his touch and shivers when Jacob’s hand rests on his bare shoulder. </p>
<p>“Knife?” Jacob murmurs, the jagged white line marring otherwise flawless milky skin. Kevin reaches up and gently wraps his fingers around Jacob’s wrist, pulling his hand off his shoulder and holding it up for him to examine. </p>
<p>“Hunting knife. Undercover mission, had to pretend I don’t have ten-plus years of self-defense in me,” he huffs and rolls his eyes. </p>
<p>It’s his turn to touch and he releases his hand to reach up to Jacob’s face and brush his bangs out of the way, pressing a finger to a small scar on his forehead. </p>
<p>“I remember seeing this one once,” Kevin says, a vague smile on his face.</p>
<p>Jacob feels warm: he’s relieved that he’s not the only one constantly studying the other’s face whenever they’ve gotten the chance. He slowly raises his hand and grasps Kevin’s wrist, pressing his thumb to his pulse point. </p>
<p>“Why were you avoiding me?” Jacob asks softly, not wanting to break the quiet tension between them. Kevin’s hand moves to rest at the crook of Jacob’s shoulder and he’s abruptly reminded that no one has touched him like this in a while. Kevin wets his lips and Jacob’s eyes dart down to follow the flash of tongue he sees. It takes a conscious effort to look Kevin in the eye after that and the humor in Kevin’s eyes tells him he was caught. He’s not too bothered about it.</p>
<p>“Sorry about that,” Kevin says, his expression shifting into something apologetic with regret in his eyes. “I just. I don’t know what you’ve told your team about… us.” </p>
<p>And Jacob understands then. Kevin had no idea to what extent Jacob spoke about him. </p>
<p>“I didn’t want to put you on the spot, just in case you’ve told them nothing. Our… whatever is between us is,” he continues, his voice becoming a bit thin. His hand drops and he brings his hands to his lap, looking down and clenching them before looking up again. “We’re… well, it’s a bit of a secret, isn’t it?” His smile is a little sad but Jacob gets it. </p>
<p>He reaches for Kevin’s hand and slowly intertwines their fingers. His breath hitches and when Jacob looks up through his lashes at him, he sees a flush on Kevin’s face. </p>
<p>“It is a secret, yeah,” he rasps out, bringing Kevin’s hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to his palm. </p>
<p>Kevin lets out a shaky breath and seems to melt a little. He stands slightly then, moving slowly and deliberately and Jacob already knows what he’s going for. </p>
<p>With no hesitation, he pulls him into a hug; Kevin tucks his face into the crook of Jacob’s neck, his breath hot on his skin. He wraps his arms around Jacob and clutches at the back of his shirt. </p>
<p>“I’m so fucking glad it was you who came for us,” Kevin speaks against his skin, his hands shakily pressing against Jacob’s back. “I wanted it to be you so badly,” he says softly, his voice and body shaking. </p>
<p>“Was it that close?” Jacob whispers. </p>
<p>Kevin knows what he’s asking. </p>
<p>“I sent a will and obituary out to a couple of people,” he breathes out and Jacob tightens his arms around Kevin’s waist. </p>
<p>“Fuck,” he mutters and Kevin laughs. It’s watery and Jacob is quickly realizing how insane it is that they somehow connected in such absurd circumstances. Kevin is shaking slightly and Jacob runs his hands up and down his back soothingly.</p>
<p>He saw it through their interactions, but he could tell that Kevin took it upon himself to be the unbreakable leader for K.C.E. He likely had to insist upon continuing to push forward and soothe his own members from what was a likely chance they could’ve been killed. It’s not like Chanhee and Eric didn’t try to support Kevin but rather that he didn’t want them to worry about him. </p>
<p>But now, with Jacob holding him, the weight of being unbreakable is crashing down on him. </p>
<p>He doesn’t cry but they stay there like that for a while. Kevin eventually moves to just sit on Jacob’s lap and he doesn’t even question it, simply adjusting and tucking his chin over Kevin’s shoulder. </p>
<p>After some time, Kevin lets out a shaky breath and begins to pull back. Jacob makes a noise in question and turns his head slightly to look at Kevin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their faces are a hair’s breadth apart. When Kevin glances at his lips then back up to look at him, Jacob caves in a little. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He leans forward and gently presses his lips against Kevin’s. Instead of pulling away, Kevin readjusts in Jacob’s lap and tilts his head to deepen the kiss. When Jacob’s hands drop to settle on Kevin’s hips, the black-haired man hums in contentment. Encouraged, Jacob responds to his kisses with equal fervor. </p>
<p>Kevin pulls back first, a little out of breath. His lips are kiss swollen and he has a blinding smile on his face. </p>
<p>“Thanks, Jacob,” he laughs quietly, his eyes crescents and the apples of his cheeks pink. </p>
<p>He slips off Jacob’s lap then and it’s a bit awkward as they maneuver around each other. The air becomes a little weird as they both start cooling down from the sudden heated moment.  </p>
<p>“What were you doing here anyway?” Jacob asks, a bit stilted as he finally starts gathering the supplies he needs for a pot of coffee. Kevin hums as he settles back into his seat.</p>
<p>“Making a list of all the places we need to go to for all our stuff. I’ve stored my stuff in only two locations but Chanhee has his own complicated system and Eric is young and haphazard and has way too many random locations.” Kevin sighs as he wakes the laptop again. When Jacob glances at the screen, he notices something. </p>
<p>“Hey, isn’t that Sunwoo’s,” Jacob starts and Kevin starts to laugh. He turns to look at Jacob, his face a little guilty. </p>
<p>“Don’t tell him but Chanhee hacked into it for me,” he grimaces but Jacob just huffs a laugh, amused by the prospect of Sunwoo finding out how easily their new member hacked into one of his many laptops. Besides, Kevin is doing useful work so he figures it’ll just provide prime entertainment for him later in the day. </p>
<p>As Jacob pours coffee into his mug, Kevin closes the laptop with a quiet snap. He stands to leave as Jacob takes a sip of his morning brew. </p>
<p>“You’re going back to sleep?” Jacob asks, and Kevin scoffs. They both start moving towards the door. </p>
<p>“I’m going to ‘try’ but three-ish hours isn’t really anything,” he sighs and tucks the laptop close to this chest. “Chanhee wants me to rest though, so I want to give him the illusion that I slept.” Kevin shrugs dramatically and grins as Jacob laughs. </p>
<p>As they start to part ways, Jacob is suddenly reminded of their last meeting, months ago. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This time, he knows he’ll see Kevin again. But he doesn’t want to end it the same way they did last time. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stops Kevin from walking away, turning him to face him. He reaches up and cups the other’s chin in his hand, smiling at Kevin’s noise of confusion.</p>
<p>Gently, he pulls Kevin into a chaste kiss.</p>
<p>“See you later,” he murmurs against his lips and steps away. When he turns around to walk back to his room, he can’t help the wide smile on his lips at Kevin’s flushed and surprised face. </p>
<p>
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</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you if you made it through this monster of a chapter. I hope the little bit of moonbae at the end makes up for the late update!</p>
<p>You can find me on <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">twitter!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. So Natural</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>New beginnings start with a car ride</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, I was like, "Gee, this is going to be another late update, I wonder why this is taking so long," and then I realized this chapter is uhhhhhhh, a measly 8,050ish words. Sorry for such a Big Boi, I just couldn't find a place I wanted to cut it off at :0 Anyways, I hope this is enjoyable! We get some Kevin POV in this one! Thanks for waiting!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin wakes up to an unfamiliar ceiling. </p>
<p>He sits up quickly and scans his surroundings, all his nerves a live wire, panic making him seize up. When he splays his hands to his sides, his left lands on a bundle of fabric. </p>
<p>“Mhrmf.” </p>
<p>Kevin snaps his head to his side and watches, wide-eyed, as Eric murmurs and curls deeper into the blanket cocooned around him. </p>
<p>It takes him a moment, but then the events of the previous days crash into Kevin’s memory; the flood of relief makes him slump, his body completely giving in from the exhaustion that follows. </p>
<p>As he recounts yesterday, he takes another—less-panicked—look around himself. </p>
<p>To his right, Chanhee is bundled in blankets, still asleep. His blonde hair peeks out from the blanket wrapped up to his chin and in the slivers of daylight shining through the curtains of Creaker’s living room, Kevin can see the deep-seated dark circles under his eyes. </p>
<p>He releases a long sigh, his heartbeat calming down and his thoughts slowing. </p>
<p>Creaker saved them. They are at Creaker’s base. Sangyeon let them join. </p>
<p>They’re safe now. </p>
<p>They’re part of Creaker now. They’ve gained at least one day from Sun Corp’s hunt for them. Creaker’s agents are wonderful people. </p>
<p><em> They’re safe now. </em> </p>
<p>Eric gets along with Juyeon. Chanhee quickly gained the respect of Younghoon and Sunwoo. Haknyeon is lovely and a new friend. Jacob kissed him. </p>
<p><em> Jacob kissed him. </em> </p>
<p>Kevin lets out a shuddering breath and closes his eyes; he leans forward and wraps his arms around his legs as he pulls them up. As he presses his forehead against his knees, he counts down from ten, taking long, deep breaths. </p>
<p>Truthfully, he doesn’t know what to think. </p>
<p>Everything he told Sangyeon was the truth; it was a desperate attempt to gain support and, seeing as the three of them aren’t dead, some level of trust. </p>
<p>His thoughts settle on how the three of them will have to work to show their appreciation for Creaker’s kindness. Their messages were literal shots in the dark and he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to fully articulate how thankful he is that Creaker listened. </p>
<p>He reaches out and gently lays his hands on Eric and Chanhee’s sleeping forms. The soft movement of their breathing serves to calm most of his remaining nerves. </p>
<p>The digital clock in the living room reads 6:02 AM and when he focuses, he can hear movement throughout the base. </p>
<p>Kevin gently extracts himself from between Eric and Chanhee and does his best to crawl over the two without disturbing them. As he puts his glasses on, he reminds himself to wake up Chanhee if he isn’t up in a few minutes; it will probably take both of them to wake up Eric. </p>
<p>There’s some noise coming from the kitchen and Kevin pads quietly down the hall, not sure who to expect to see. When he peeks around the door frame, someone’s cooking at the stove, his back to Kevin. He walks in and clears his throat, a bit nervous. </p>
<p>“Oh! Good morning,” Jaehyun, Kevin recognizes, turns around, and grins. He relaxes and walks over and the tall man holds up a spatula in greeting; when Kevin is near enough, he waves the utensil at the pan. “Hope you like scrambled eggs.” Kevin peeks over and startles at the sheer amount of eggs he sees. When he looks at Jaehyun in shock, he laughs at Kevin’s expression. “Had to account for eleven guys now. So that’s a whole carton and a half.” </p>
<p>“The grocery bill…” Kevin whispers in horror. </p>
<p>Jaehyun laughs harder and shakes his head. “At least we work in a lucrative business,” he chuckles after calming down. He turns to give the eggs another toss and Kevin starts rolling up the sleeves of the borrowed sweater. </p>
<p>“Let me help at least,” he says to Jaehyun, his brow furrowed in determination. The brown-haired man looks surprised but then his smile becomes softer. </p>
<p>“Of course, thanks.” He nods towards the fridge. “Grab whatever screams ‘breakfast’ to you.” Kevin looks over his shoulder as he walks towards it, his expression apparently funny to Jaehyun. “Only got so much in the fridge. And remember, eleven guys. With a good chunk of them being, what did you call ‘em?” Jaehyun giggles. “Ah, right, <em> gym rats.” </em> </p>
<p>When Kevin opens the fridge, he jolts again and whistles. “Oh yeah. ‘Gym rats’ for sure,” and both he and Jaehyun start laughing. </p>
<p>Some thirty minutes later, people start streaming into the kitchen and dining area. Kevin and Jaehyun are focused on cooking and only give brief greetings to each person. When Chanhee groggily walks into the kitchen, Kevin shoots him a sympathetic smile. </p>
<p>“Sorry babe, you’re going to have to wake up Eric.” He nods towards the pancakes he’s making as an explanation. Chanhee squints and groans. He walks away, out of Kevin’s line of sight, but he hears him start calling out to other occupants in the dining room. </p>
<p>“Sunwoo. Haknyeon. Help me wake up your buddy,” Chanhee commands and Kevin hears his voice fade away as he walks away. </p>
<p>“Why do you need three people to wake up one person?” Jaehyun quips and Kevin chuckles. </p>
<p>“We’ve once dumped water onto Eric to wake him up. And he still fell back asleep. He’s not as bad now but considering how exhausted he must’ve been,” Kevin doesn’t finish his sentence, letting Jaehyun fill in the blanks. </p>
<p>“Oh, <em> that </em> bad,” Jaehyun says a few minutes later when they hear Sunwoo’s muffled yelling. He laughs in disbelief when it goes on for longer than expected. </p>
<p>The two of them are finishing up and plating all the food when Sangyeon and Jacob walk in. </p>
<p>“Well, this is quite the treat,” Sangyeon beams and admires the numerous plates of food. Jacob peeks around his shoulder, his lips an “O” shape. </p>
<p>“Thanks, Jaehyun,” Jacob smiles warmly and humming appreciatively as he picks up a plate. </p>
<p>“Luckily I had a sous-chef this morning.” Jaehyun steps back to reveal Kevin and gestures dramatically towards him. Kevin laughs shyly as he finishes drying a pan and shakes his head. </p>
<p>“As Jaehyun kept saying,” he looks over to the taller man, his eyebrow raised. </p>
<p>“Eleven guys,” they say together and burst into laughter. </p>
<p>When Kevin glances back, he finds Jacob watching the two of them, a soft smile on his lips. </p>
<p>“Well, thank you, both of you. This looks amazing,” Jacob says and Kevin can’t help but stare. </p>
<p>He looks refreshed; his hair is damp and his bangs are falling over his forehead, making him look younger. Jacob is holding the same coffee mug he had at 3 AM and Kevin feels his face heat up as he suddenly remembers what they did only some hours earlier. </p>
<p>He doesn’t school his expression fast enough and Jacob gets a mischievous look on his face when they make eye contact. </p>
<p>“I’m alive!” Eric yells out suddenly, saving Kevin from further embarrassment. He’s standing proudly in the kitchen doorway and is pushed forward by an exhausted-looking Sunwoo and Haknyeon. </p>
<p>“Every morning?” Sunwoo asks Kevin, the horror in his voice making Kevin laugh. </p>
<p>“Usually not that bad,” Kevin amends, and Eric claps Sunwoo on the back. </p>
<p>“I already told you, I was just extra tired, man!” Haknyeon and Sunwoo give him withering stares and Kevin slides over plates for them to start their breakfast. He shoots a sympathetic smile at the two younger agents and they both just sigh. They push Sangyeon and Jacob ahead and the two quickly fill their plates and make their way to the dining table. </p>
<p>Chanhee is the last to arrive and is toweling his hair dry. Most of the group had already grabbed food with a few stragglers making their morning drinks. As Chanhee and Kevin both start piling food on their plates, Kevin realizes something.</p>
<p>“Did you make <em> them </em> wake Eric up?” Kevin asks in shock. Chanhee shrugs as he places bacon onto his plate. </p>
<p>“They insisted it couldn’t be that bad. So, I let them have a stab at it,” the blonde man huffs and raises a brow. His expression becomes fond at Kevin’s confused expression. “Hey now, we can’t be the only people who know how to wake him up.” </p>
<p>And for some reason, hearing that makes Kevin feel a little fragile. </p>
<p>There are more people in their life now, more people they can rely on. The three of them were so reliant on each other that the realization that they have real, tangible support shocks Kevin into realizing he doesn’t have to do this alone anymore. </p>
<p>He just nods quietly and squeezes his eyes shut, willing the sudden pressure behind his eyes away.</p>
<p><em> They’re safe now. </em> </p>
<p>Chanhee doesn’t seem to notice but if he does, he gives Kevin the grace to have his little moment. </p>
<p>By the time they finish loading their plates, a new pot of coffee was brewed and the two of them are the last to arrive at the table. </p>
<p>It’s a tight fit at Creaker’s dining table; adding three more chairs wasn’t as easy as they thought. Haknyeon gestures to Kevin to sit next to him and Chanhee is pulled to sit next to Younghoon. </p>
<p>“Heard you helped with breakfast!” Haknyeon greets him cheerily. Kevin laughs and watches in awe as Haknyeon quickly starts clearing his plate. </p>
<p>“Anyways, Sangyeon said that we’re going to spend the day retrieving all of your stuff,” Haknyeon says; it’s a little muffled as he tries to speak around some remaining food he’s chewing. </p>
<p>“Haknyeon, manners,” Jacob chides gently from across the table and Jaehyun laughs. </p>
<p>“Yeah, listen to mom!” Jaehyun jeers; he’s sitting on Haknyeon’s other side and he peeks around to eye Kevin.“By the way, did you use all the packages of bacon?”  At Kevin’s nod, Jaehyun hums. He leans over and gets Sangyeon’s attention. “One of the groups going out today needs to do a grocery run. We were already low but this breakfast pretty much cleared us out.” </p>
<p>Sangyeon nods slowly and sips from his coffee mug. After a brief glance around the table, he clears his throat. The table quiets immediately. </p>
<p>“So the plan for today is retrieving K.C.E’s stuff. We have two cars and, from what I understand, a list of places they need to go to grab everything. We have a lot of digital stuff that needs sorting too so we’ll have Chanhee stay here. Kevin and Eric,” he looks between the two of them. “I’m going to have someone get you two into the city to get as much of your stuff as possible. Kevin, Jacob told me you’ve compiled a list. Can you route the trip for the two cars?” </p>
<p>After Kevin nods, Sangyeon claps his hands. He tells them that he wants them to leave in an hour and stands up, finished with his meal. As he passes Kevin, he taps his shoulder. </p>
<p>“Can you also route in a stop to the grocery store?” </p>
<p>“Of course,” Kevin replies. </p>
<p>“And remember,” Jaehyun adds, peeking around again. </p>
<p>“Eleven guys!” They both say, shooting finger guns at each other. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>An hour later, the base is abuzz with activity. Kevin had handed Eric a tablet with his planned route a while ago and is just leaving Haknyeon’s weapons room. He had to help Haknyeon organize and prepare for Kevin’s incoming collection so the two of them took the time to rearrange. </p>
<p>Kevin finds Sangyeon in the meeting room. “I’m all set and ready to go,” he tells him and Sangyeon looks up. He was focused on watching Chanhee type away at the computer and showing their tech team the mass of information their trio had accumulated over their time at EN-Net. </p>
<p>“Great. Head on over to the garage, I already sent Eric there too.” </p>
<p>With Sangyeon’s direction, Kevin navigates his way through the base, retracing his steps from the day before. When he enters the garage, he sees Eric first. </p>
<p>“Kev! Finally! Juyeon and I are gonna take one car. So you’ll go with Jacob!” Eric excitedly explains and shuffles Kevin over to one of the SUVs, giving him no room to argue. He’s stammering, his brain frozen on Jacob’s name, but Eric is already pushing him towards the open door of the car. </p>
<p>He stumbles and catches himself on the car door; after glaring at Eric over his shoulder, he turns to look up. </p>
<p>Jacob stares at him, a little wide-eyed, from the driver’s seat. </p>
<p>Kevin kind of wants to sink into the floor but then Eric barges in again and shoves a tablet into his hands. </p>
<p>“And remember the groceries! Juyeon put the list on there!” Eric gives Kevin an exaggerated pat on the back and zips over to the other car; he waves from the passenger seat as Juyeon backs the car out and the two leave the garage, taking the flurry of noise with them. </p>
<p>Kevin watches the car disappear for a moment, taking a second to rearrange his thoughts. He slowly starts climbing into the car then, realizing that they do have a long list of places to stop at and that this excursion will take all day. </p>
<p>He doesn’t look at Jacob as long as he possibly can: he spends a second too long putting on his seatbelt, then examines the tablet, and then fiddles with the radio. As Jacob starts backing out of the garage, Kevin feels his skin begin to crawl the longer the silence between them grows. </p>
<p>Finally, he looks at Jacob. </p>
<p>His eyes are on the road, his focus on navigating the twisting road that hides Creaker’s base, so Kevin is given a brief reprieve to stare at the other man. </p>
<p>
  <em> Jacob kissed him. </em>
</p>
<p>He always knew Jacob was handsome but this version of him is so different from all the other times they’ve been near each other. </p>
<p>After only ever seeing him in combat gear, his outfit—a jean jacket over a white shirt and dark pants—is somehow devastating Kevin with its normalcy. From the passenger seat, Jacob’s cut jawline looks exquisite. </p>
<p>When they turn a corner, the morning light bathes him golden and Kevin is quickly becoming breathless.</p>
<p>Sometimes he wishes he knew exactly when he started <em>wanting </em> Jacob so he could’ve stopped it sooner. He had always put the beautiful man in the “forever unattainable” category, content with the reality that they would never be anything. </p>
<p>But now. </p>
<p>He has no backup plan, had never considered this option, never thought that they’d become <em>teammates. </em> </p>
<p>And now they’re in a car together, driving into town to buy fucking groceries. </p>
<p>“What the fuck,” Kevin says out loud, and Jacob jolts. It makes the car veer slightly and they both make weird noises as Jacob quickly readjusts. Once the car is back on track, Jacob starts giggling. </p>
<p>“I promise I’m a better driver than that,” he assures and Kevin feels the tension in his body lessen at Jacob’s soft tone. He looks at Jacob again and the other glances at him. “Hm?” </p>
<p>Kevin smiles ruefully then and Jacob tilts his head in question. </p>
<p>“How did we get here,” he sighs out, and that seems to shock a laugh out of Jacob. </p>
<p>“I was thinking the same thing, to be honest.” Kevin sees Jacob’s shoulders relax and he feels relieved that he wasn’t the only one mildly freaking out over this. With that realization, the remaining tension he felt seems to melt away, leaving only endearment at Jacob’s shyness. </p>
<p>Jacob kissed him. </p>
<p>“Thank you, by the way,” Kevin starts, his voice soft. He isn’t sure he wants to watch Jacob’s reaction so he starts to input their stops into the car’s navigation system to keep himself busy. “For last night, I mean. This morning? Whatever.” He can’t believe he’s stammering through this. “You, uh,” and god, he’s a mess. “Helped me out. A lot. So thank you.” </p>
<p><em> A stunning finish, </em> he thinks dryly to himself. </p>
<p>And because Kevin apparently likes to see the result of embarrassing himself, he looks over at Jacob. </p>
<p>He’s smiling, his eyes, rightfully, on the road. His toothy smile is cute, the apples of his cheeks pushing up his eyes, and Kevin is now <em>very </em>aware of his heartbeat. </p>
<p>“I’m glad I could be there for you,” Jacob replies. He doesn’t stammer, doesn’t even pause. Kevin is glad he isn’t looking at him because he doesn’t see how his words have made him flush.</p>
<p>“Right, yeah, yes,” Kevin stammers. Desperate to change the topic, he tries to think of something. When he looks at the tablet for their itinerary, he has a thought. </p>
<p>“What do we tell people when they ask why we're buying so much stuff at the grocery store?” </p>
<p>Jacob’s brows furrow. “Huh,” he murmurs, undeterred by the topic change. “At the one we go to, no one has asked that… but I guess we’ll be buying even more than usual.” </p>
<p>“No one has asked before?” Kevin’s tone is doubtful and Jacob shrugs. </p>
<p>“I guess the past times we’ve gone, we must look like college students or something. And our method has been to buy often, with different people.” </p>
<p>“So, even more so then, this will be very particular,” Kevin emphasizes and Jacob hums. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I guess so,” he shrugs. “I guess if someone asks, we just say none of their business,” he chuckles. Kevin sighs, smiling. </p>
<p>“Two people buying eleven people’s worth of food will definitely catch people’s attention.” He contemplates for a moment then gasps. Jacob glances at him, arching a brow. </p>
<p>“I got it!” Kevin grins excitedly and leans forward to meet Jacob’s eye. “It’s for a church camp!” </p>
<p>Jacob bursts into laughter. “Church camp?” He wheezes and has to actively make sure they don’t veer off the road again. “So, shit, what? We’re camp counselors then?” </p>
<p>“Sure, why not! <em>God be with you,</em> or whatever,” Kevin tries a version of a stately voice and that makes Jacob laugh harder. </p>
<p>Kevin finds that he quite likes this. For a moment, he wishes he could record the sound of Jacob’s laughter to play on a rainy day. As Kevin’s new favorite sound fills the car, he feels its joy fill him with contentment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Those are dangerous thoughts. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin shouldn’t entertain any of these ideas. He should be alert at all times, never fall into complacency, never succumb to the allure of contentment. He has a job to do, he’s supposed to be cold-blooded, and anything could be a weakness. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Jacob kissed him. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>So Kevin thinks <em>maybe, </em> he can give a bit of himself to another person. He’s already sharing half of his heart with Chanhee and Eric; he figures he can afford a portion to the man who saved them. </p>
<p>He decides he can disregard some of his rules for the man who kisses him like it means something. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>━━━━━━━━━━━━━━</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their first stop is a small storage locker. It has an amalgam of stuff from the three of them; most of it is clothes and other personal things. With the two of them, they are able to get all of it into the car in one trip. As they pile the various bags and suitcases into the trunk, Jacob pauses suddenly and makes a strange noise. </p>
<p>“Is that… a dress?” He says slowly, gesturing to a duffle bag that isn’t completely closed. When Kevin glances over, he snorts: a forest-green shimmering dress has spilled out from the bag. </p>
<p>“Ugh, I thought Chanhee tossed that. That’s from last year, an undercover thing I did,” he groans. He grabs it and shakes it out. “This color didn’t look great on me either,” he mutters as he holds it up, the memory of the mission making him exasperated. The large rip up the thigh of the floor-length dress is the only good memory he has of it. As he begins to shove it back into the bag, he notices that Jacob’s is still silent; curious, he glances over. </p>
<p>“You?” Jacob looks baffled, his eyes glued to the shining fabric. Kevin, initially surprised by Jacob’s reaction, starts to grin when he notices the other’s slightly flushed face. He zips up the bag and turns, jutting his hip out and tilting his head. </p>
<p>“Jakey,” Kevin coos, slipping into a teasing tone. He takes a slow step towards him. “Are you imagining me in that dress, mhm?” </p>
<p>Jacob’s expression quickly morphs into annoyed and he huffs. He pushes into a giggling Kevin but surprises him when he gently wraps his hand around Kevin’s wrist. </p>
<p>“You don’t have to use that voice with me anymore,” Jacob murmurs, his brows furrowed slightly. He’s looking intently at his hand around Kevin’s wrist as he pulls the taller towards him. </p>
<p>“You already got me.” </p>
<p>Kevin is shocked into speechlessness: Jacob’s particular brand of boldness and straightforwardness continues to leave him in awe. He has no expectations for anything romantic because he never let himself consider it but Jacob’s introduction into his life is quickly forcing him to reconfigure everything. </p>
<p>Jacob looks up at Kevin then, his eyes soft; he seems to understand that Kevin is having a mild crisis over his words. </p>
<p>And Kevin <em>knows </em>what Jacob meant: their year of flirtatious banter was always tainted with the caveat that they were enemies, that Kevin had ulterior motives with his tone, that one wrong move meant a gun aimed at the other. He realizes that Jacob likely associates that particular teasing tone with their encounters as enemies. Now that they’re on the same side, Jacob doesn’t want to be reminded of that time. </p>
<p>Kevin’s face feels warm and leans forward to press his forehead against Jacob’s shoulder, his throat tight. </p>
<p>“Okay,” he rasps out, reaching up to clutch at his shirt. Jacob hums and releases his wrist to wrap his arms around Kevin, pulling him into a hug. He melts into Jacob, a little dizzy from the strength he feels in his grip.</p>
<p>When the part, Kevin smiles at Jacob. “You just keep surprising me, man,” he chuckles and adjusts the collar of his jean jacket. Jacob shrugs, a small smile on his face, and they both move to go back into the car. </p>
<p>“Surprise <em>me, </em> sometimes,” Jacob quips as they drive to the second stop. Kevin perks up and shifts to meet Jacob’s eye. When Jacob raises a brow at him, he smirks.</p>
<p>“So what I’m hearing is that I should wear a dress?” </p>
<p>Jacob sputters and he leans forward to avoid his teasing gaze, his ears flushing red, while Kevin’s laughter fills the car. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next three stops are quick: they stop at varying sizes of storage lockers and with Jacob’s help, they’re efficient in getting various bags, suitcases, and boxes into the car. At their fourth stop, Kevin has to call Chanhee; he puts him on speaker as he lifts the door to the storage space. </p>
<p>“We’re at your personal locker. You have to tell me what’s essential because we have limited room in the car,” Kevin explains as soon as Chanhee picks up the phone. </p>
<p>Chanhee’s voice echoes off the steel walls of the unit as he directs Kevin to grab a medium-sized suitcase and then a duffle bag. Kevin shakes his head when Jacob holds out his hands, wondering if he needs help. </p>
<p>“Kevin, if you have the room,” Chanhee says slowly and Kevin immediately clicks his tongue. </p>
<p>“Babe, your Chanel collection is not essential,” Kevin speaks over Chanhee’s sarcastic pleading but does give in to his request for a small pouch Kevin pulls from a box. </p>
<p>“Chanel collection…?” Jacob asks as he drives them to the fifth location. Kevin lightly laughs as he works on the tablet. </p>
<p>“We all spend our money differently,” Kevin looks up at the road, his expression fond. “And Chanhee likes that kind of stuff. It makes him really happy, and ultimately, anything that brings joy is valuable.” </p>
<p>They’re all more than aware that their profession isn’t fun and is one that requires a high level of secrecy. There is no happiness to find in their line of work and it can be incredibly mentally taxing.</p>
<p>Jacob will forever be thankful that Sangyeon makes it a priority for them to have other activities outside of their jobs; their group frequently go on short trips to decompress and they’re all encouraged to pursue hobbies. </p>
<p>And the work pays well. So if Chanhee enjoys buying expensive things, then that’s for him to enjoy. Besides, Jaehyun is similar: Jacob is more than aware of his extensive—and expensive—comic book and figure collection.</p>
<p>“So the stuff we just picked up…?” </p>
<p>Kevin giggles. “All designer stuff. Clothes, shoes,” he lists off. He pauses then laughs. “It’s wild but I swear, once he gets them in his hands, his productivity and mood will skyrocket.” He settles into the seat, smiling, already excited to see Chanhee’s face when he’s reunited with his favorite outfits. Jacob hums, interested to see the results of bringing Chanhee his designer items. </p>
<p>The drive to the fifth stop is longer so they’ll be in the car for a bit. After fiddling with the radio, they sit in comfortable silence, the radio playing new songs neither of them knows. They both laugh when a song with a funny chorus plays, and both groan whenever the radio DJ makes a lame joke. </p>
<p>And Kevin is shocked at how comfortable he feels. The atmosphere in the car is calm and the gentle rumble of the car lulls him. When he glances at Jacob, the other has settled into his seat and has one hand on the wheel, the other laying on the console. He’s nodding along to the beat of the song on the radio and his features are relaxed, a stark difference from the past times Kevin have seen him. </p>
<p>He never told Chanhee or Eric because he was embarrassed about it, but Jacob is somehow <em>exactly </em>his type. His two teammates found humor in his and Jacob’s continuous run-ins and Kevin pretended to be annoyed about it but he could never deny the spark of joy he’d get every time he spotted him. </p>
<p>Kevin has met other agents before. The ones at EN-Net all had a chip on their shoulders and if they weren’t mocking him, they were sleazy and gross towards him. He was so used to dealing with jerks that when he and Jacob first ran into each other on a mission, he immediately was on edge. He was already pissed someone got there before him and when he noticed that Jacob was obviously bewitched by him, he treated him like he would with any other greasy man and took advantage of it.</p>
<p>He knows he’s attractive: he often uses it to his advantage. Pressing up against Jacob and pick-pocketing him was easy and he thought that would be it, that he’d never see him again, and he’d laugh about how the man blushed and stammered when Kevin ran off. </p>
<p>Then they met again. </p>
<p>And again. And again. And again. </p>
<p>Those first couple of times, Kevin would approach it just like he did before: Jacob was just another guy who only sees his body and face, underestimates him because he’s pretty, just wants to do unspeakable things to him, and then dismiss him. So he played into it, flirted, and acted sultrily. He expected Jacob to fall for it, as men would always do. </p>
<p>But the second time they met, Jacob was on edge and was annoyed with him. He angrily quipped back at Kevin’s comments, was obviously suspicious of him, and treated him like a threat. </p>
<p>That shocked Kevin. </p>
<p>What shocked Kevin, even <em>more,</em> was that Jacob obviously had respect for him. He could’ve yelled expletives at him, degraded him for his methods, and continued to underestimate him. Instead, he recognized Kevin’s skill, acted accordingly, still addressed him, and still bothered to engage with him. </p>
<p>After approaching Jacob as he would for other miserable men and leaving their interactions feeling like he was just hitting a wall, Kevin stopped trying to get the upper hand. When he ran into Jacob for the fifth time, he just figured they could just have fun with it. </p>
<p>And it was <em>fun. </em> Jacob was funny in his own way, and he’s charming, and despite both of them being acutely aware of their roles, it was nice to talk to someone other than his immediate teammates. </p>
<p>He can’t pinpoint at what point he started <em>wanting</em> to see Jacob. He’s unsure when he started dreaming about him, started thinking about his body and trying to recall what it felt like from that first time. Started to wish that sweet voice wasn’t just replying sarcastically to him. Wondering what he sounded like outside of a mission. </p>
<p>Would dream about that voice saying kinder things to him. Saying lovely things to him. </p>
<p>What he would look like driving him to pick up his stuff. </p>
<p>Kevin jolts out of his thoughts. </p>
<p>“We’re about five minutes away from the next stop,” Jacob comments, his brows furrowing as they drive through the city streets. Kevin hums, shaking his head slightly as if to clear his head.</p>
<p>“The next place has a parking lot behind it, I’ll tell you how to get there.” He sits up in his seat, noticing that Jacob has become tense as he drives through the narrow streets. It’s busy this deep in the city, with traffic and people walking on the sidewalks and crossing the streets; it’s a stark contrast compared to their past stops outside the city. </p>
<p>Kevin manages to direct Jacob through a small side street and into the dinky outdoor parking lot. When Jacob turns the engine off, Kevin reaches out and stops Jacob from getting out of the car. </p>
<p>“Just uh, letting you know,” he starts. He points to the entrance of an antique shop. “It’s a front, obviously.” Jacob laughs and nods. Kevin pauses again though, his brows furrowing. “I know the owner,” he says slowly. “He’s kind of… my mentor?” Jacob makes a noise of interest. Kevin grimaces. “Also he’s uh. He’s my uncle?” </p>
<p>Jacob arches a brow. “So be on my best behavior?” He gives Kevin a soft smile at the black-haired man’s obvious nervousness. Kevin weakly smiles back but clenches the hand on Jacob’s forearm. </p>
<p>“You ever heard of The Spider?” </p>
<p>The sudden topic change is confusing but the name makes Jacob jolt. “Mastermind of all those huge bank robberies from 20 years ago?” He looks at Kevin, curious. </p>
<p>Anyone in their business knows that name; even the general public knows the stories of the spree of billion-dollar heists that happened in their city. The perpetrators disappeared after their fifth robbery and no one was ever tied to the crimes. Jacob is initially confused by the sudden topic change but then he makes the connection. </p>
<p>“Are you actually telling me your uncle is The Spider,” Jacob deadpans. Kevin’s face is answer enough and Jacob exhales loudly. </p>
<p>“He’s not as feisty anymore?” Kevin grimaces and Jacob groans. He hits his head against the steering wheel while Kevin sputters. “He just mods my guns and sits around with his antiques. He’s just a grumpy old man now, I promise.” </p>
<p>When Jacob starts giggling, Kevin stops and frowns. “What?” </p>
<p>He turns his head to stare at Kevin, his eyes scrunched up from his smile. “This isn’t exactly what I was expecting when I said to surprise me.” He pulls Kevin’s hand off and intertwines their fingers. </p>
<p>The tension in Kevin’s shoulders melts away and he laughs too, a small smile forming on his face. He pulls their hands closer and presses their palms together.</p>
<p>“I promise I won’t let him pull a ‘you hurt him, I’ll kill you’ kind of thing,” Kevin insists and Jacob arches a brow, his expression doubtful. </p>
<p>“I should’ve brought flowers,” Jacob mutters and Kevin bursts out laughing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The door to the store rings as they walk in and they’re immediately greeted by a bored voice. </p>
<p>“Siyeon, you have to be a little more enthusiastic,” Kevin calls out to the store clerk. When Kevin turns the corner, a girl with bleached hair perks up and gasps. </p>
<p>“Kevin?!” She quickly moves from behind the counter and runs towards him, pulling him into a fierce hug. “Ohmigod, you’re okay,” she whispers. Kevin hugs her back and when she pulls back, she punches him in the stomach. </p>
<p>“You <em>cannot </em>just send us a fucking obituary and a note that says ‘just in case’ and then go radio silent for three days,” she scolds him as he coughs and clutches at his stomach. Kevin holds up his hands in a placating gesture as she continues to berate him. “Do you know how worried we were?! And Maestro’s sources only go so far these days, so we had no idea what was happening!” </p>
<p>Jacob watches on, unsure as to how to react. He notes that, predictably, The Spider has multiple pseudonyms; Kevin obviously took his Uncle’s advice. </p>
<p>Siyeon, Jacob presumes, looks at him suddenly. </p>
<p>“Who is this?” Her tone is accusatory and Kevin steps in front of Jacob. </p>
<p>“My new teammate,” Kevin says, his tone leaving no room for argument. “He saved us.” </p>
<p>He and Siyeon have some silent conversation, their gazes hard. After a moment, she relaxes and sighs, reaching out and pulling Kevin into a gentler hug. He whispers something to her and they both laugh.</p>
<p>“Alright, okay,” Siyeon says, smiling brightly. She grips Kevin’s arm as she pulls away and then glances at Jacob. He sticks out his hand for a handshake and she takes it, still eyeing him suspiciously. </p>
<p>“I’m with Creaker.” Jacob introduces himself. Siyeon tilts her head in question and Kevin clears his throat. </p>
<p>“Our new org,” Kevin explains. “They helped get Chanhee, Eric, and I out of EN-Net.” Siyeon perks up, her expression relaxing as she scrutinizes Jacob. </p>
<p>“Considering that you brought him here, Creaker must be a good org.” She glances at Kevin. “You choose them?” </p>
<p>“It was more a mutual decision,” Kevin responds, his eyes meeting Jacob’s; there’s something fond in them and Jacob feels his chest tighten. Kevin nods in his direction then. </p>
<p>“This is Siyeon,” he prompts and she arches a brow at him. When he looks at her pointedly, she sticks her tongue out at him. As he rolls his eyes, she turns to Jacob.</p>
<p>“I’m just a normal person who works here,” she winks, and without looking, slaps Kevin’s arm with surprising accuracy. “And this one is my cousin,” she adds, her smile becoming softer. “So thanks, I guess, for picking him up.” Her tone is still sarcastic but Jacob can see the sincerity in her eyes. </p>
<p>Behind her, Kevin whines and starts to chide her and she turns around, shooing off Kevin’s complaints. </p>
<p>“Yeah, yeah, woo is you, you’re just lucky I didn’t go look for you myself,” she counters. She pushes Kevin and starts walking him to go behind the counter. “I’m serious Kev, I was about to start calling my girls,” Siyeon threatens. Jacob doesn’t know who Siyeon’s “girls” are but judging by Kevin’s paling expression, he thinks he’s better off not knowing. </p>
<p>She leads them to a curtained-off doorway and moves to let Kevin through first. With a gentle push on his back, she smiles slightly. “Time for you to explain yourself to Maestro.” </p>
<p>Kevin grimaces and nods; he pulls back the curtain and walks through the doorway. He holds it for Jacob and as he walks past Siyeon, they make eye contact. Jacob doesn’t look away, intent on establishing himself. </p>
<p>“Don’t bully him,” Kevin suddenly says and reaches for Jacob’s hands; he intertwines their fingers and pulls him the rest of the way. Jacob doesn’t miss the way Siyeon’s eyes widen at the gesture. </p>
<p>They walk through a short hallway that leads into a large room packed with crates and opened boxes; other mysterious things are covered in dust covers. The room is stuffy and diffused light streams through a dusty window. The available walking space is limited because of all the boxes and Kevin has to weave through a short maze to get them to a small open space. In the middle of the space sits a large wooden desk, surrounded by stacks of various rifle cases. </p>
<p>At the desk, an older, grey-haired man sits, hunched over the desk, concentrated on something in front of him. His brows are furrowed, deepening the wrinkles on his face, and he leans closer to something in front of him. His glasses sit precariously on his nose and he crinkles his face in an attempt to adjust them. </p>
<p>“Hey,” Kevin says, disturbing the suffocating silence in the room. He’s met with silence and his grip on Jacob’s hand tightens slightly; both of them tense when they hear a loud click of metal. </p>
<p>“You’re alive.” The old man<em>—The Spider, </em> Jacob realizes—scoffs. His voice is gravelly and carries in the small space. He doesn’t look up from what he’s working on but lifts a hand and gestures at Kevin. “Come here.” </p>
<p>Kevin turns to look at Jacob with a small smile on his face and gives his hand a squeeze before he gently releases it. He makes his way towards the desk then and Jacob watches, still tense, as Kevin moves to stand next to The Spider. </p>
<p>He finally looks up and immediately looks at Jacob. “Who’s this.” His gaze freezes Jacob as he scans him, his eyes cold. Kevin opens his mouth to answer but he holds up a hand, quieting him. He moves his hand to point at Jacob. </p>
<p>“Second-in-command at Creaker,” Jacob answers.</p>
<p>Names can be precious in their business so he waits to see how much more The Spider wants. When he raises a brow, Jacob knows.</p>
<p>“Jacob Bae,” he says tightly. “I go by Cobi.” </p>
<p>His and Kevin’s eyes meet from across the way; Kevin’s gaze softens as he smiles at Jacob and he nods slightly, silently thanking him for his cooperation. The Spider sits up then and lets out a deep breath as he crosses his arms. </p>
<p>“We’re with them now,” Kevin says suddenly and The Spider looks up at him. “Chanhee and Eric and I are out of EN-Net. And <em> he </em> saved us.” Kevin nods towards Jacob and The Spider turns to look at him. He frowns.</p>
<p>“Since when have you needed saving?” The Spider turns back to look at Kevin, his tone annoyed. Kevin rolls his eyes and sighs dramatically, placing both hands on his hips.</p>
<p>“Things <em>happen, </em> Uncle,” Kevin whines and any tension left in Jacob leaves when he lets out a small laugh at Kevin’s pout. </p>
<p>They both look at him then and Jacob suddenly sees the resemblance. Their eye shapes are the same and Jacob can almost imagine a younger version of The Spider through Kevin. </p>
<p>“You really let this brat onto your team?” The Spider says, his tone incredulous. His brow is raised again and Kevin sputters; he slaps his shoulder, whining again, and Jacob watches, amused, as The Spider completely ignores him. </p>
<p>“Excuse me, Uncle, I am a fucking <em> catch,</em><em>” </em> Kevin huffs, crossing his arms petulantly. </p>
<p>Jacob, so enamored with this new version of Kevin, doesn’t even bother to check himself. “Yeah, you are,” he quips back, his tone tinged with something fond. </p>
<p>The Spider’s eyes widen slightly then narrow as he examines Jacob. He quickly turns to look at a now silent Kevin and is greeted with the sight of him flushed and mouth agape from Jacob’s comment. </p>
<p>“Are you,” The Spider starts but Kevin cuts him off with a loud clap of his hands. </p>
<p>“Anyways! I’m here to pick up my stuff!” He claps again and picks his way around the desk to where Jacob is standing. The Spider watches on, eagle-eyed, as Kevin pulls him to behind the desk to show him a line of lockers against the wall. He opens several of them, revealing a line of rifles, and instructs him to start pulling them out. </p>
<p>Kevin then opens a locker to pull out two duffel bags and, to Jacob’s shocked laugh, what looks like three cello cases. </p>
<p>“You’re a stereotype,” Jacob giggles and Kevin rolls his eyes. </p>
<p>“Hey, they work,” and he opens one, showing Jacob how the case has been modified to fit several rifles and handguns. </p>
<p>Between the two of them, with Kevin handing guns to Jacob and directing him how to pack them, they fill the three cases and the bags relatively quickly. </p>
<p>All the while, Jacob can feel The Spider’s gaze on the back of his head. He knows he’s not imagining how it gets heavier at specific moments: when he stands next to Kevin to lean close and look at something, he mindlessly rests his hand on Kevin’s waist. He has to suppress a shiver down his spine when he feels that gaze seem to pierce through his skull. When they’re packing the rifles, their hands brush, and Kevin giggles and purposely holds onto Jacob’s hand, slowing his progress. He feels like a cold breeze brushes over the back of his neck and he tries not to think too hard about how The Spider has evaded the law for nearly ten years now. </p>
<p>“Do you use <em>all </em>of these?” Jacob mumbles and Kevin, still holding his hand, shakes his head. </p>
<p>“Some are for Haknyeon,” he hums, brushing his thumb over Jacob’s knuckles. He looks up then. “Not that he doesn’t already have a wonderful selection, but some of these are difficult to obtain.” </p>
<p>“Like, limited or something?” </p>
<p>“No, like illegal,” Kevin smirks, his expression boyish. Jacob feigns an offended gasp.</p>
<p>“I can’t believe you’re giving my kid illegal firearms!” He covers his mouth with his hand and gives his best attempt at a horrified expression. He doesn’t hold it for long and they both descend into quiet laughs. Kevin only releases Jacob’s hand when he has to finish packing the last cello case.</p>
<p>When they both stand, Kevin tells Jacob to wait by the door. He wants to do a last check so Jacob starts to move the cases closer to the door. When he sets them down in the open space, he takes a moment to look around the room. He’s fascinated by the antiques that aren’t covered and he leans closer to inspect a glass case full of dishware. </p>
<p>From his peripheral, he sees movement. </p>
<p>He catches the handgun before it smashes into his head. </p>
<p>“Not bad,” The Spider says, when Jacob turns to look at him, aggravated; he’s still holding up the hand that threw the weapon. </p>
<p>For the first time, he sees a satisfied look on the elder’s face. It’s slight, and Jacob can’t even bring himself to feel mad; rather, he feels relieved that he seems to have passed some arbitrary test. </p>
<p>He starts to make his way to return the weapon when The Spider shakes his head. “That’s for you.” Jacob freezes, his mouth popping open in shock. </p>
<p>“T-thank you, sir,” Jacob stammers, genuinely surprised. He glances at the handgun, recognizing the manufacturer as one he particularly likes and a model that he’s been seeking out. When he looks up again, The Spider’s expression is aloof again. He gestures for Jacob to come closer. </p>
<p>“It has my usual modifications. Kevin can tell you what they are.” When Jacob stands in front of him, The Spider glances over his shoulder; they both see Kevin engrossed in something at the lockers. When he looks at Jacob again, his gaze is hard. “Take care of it.” </p>
<p>His tone is serious, suggesting the gravity of his words. Jacob nods slowly but The Spider still looks unsatisfied. He frowns and leans forward then, crossing his arms. His next words are spoken lowly.</p>
<p>“Take care of <em> him.” </em></p>
<p>His gaze is heavy and paralyzes Jacob. When he looks, he sees a terrifying kindling fire in The Spider’s eyes; it’s the eyes of a man who knows how to get what he wants. It’s the eyes of a man who planned the heists that resulted in billions of dollars stolen. </p>
<p>It’s the eyes of a man ready to scorch the Earth for his nephew.</p>
<p>“Kevin, I have rounds for all of your guns in a box near the packing supplies. Take as much as you need,” The Spider suddenly calls back, his gaze still holding Jacob captive. </p>
<p>They hear Kevin cheer. “If I knew this is what it takes for you to spoil me,” his voice fades away as he walks further back into the room. Once he’s far away enough, The Spider nods, releasing Jacob from his hold. </p>
<p>Jacob knows he wants a reply; he takes a breath and grimaces. “I’ve noticed he tries not to let anyone take care of him.” He won’t lie to him. </p>
<p>The Spider frowns, breathing out a deep sigh from his nose. </p>
<p>“But,” Jacob continues. “I <em> will </em>take care of him. I promise you that.” He stares into The Spider’s eyes and tries to convey his sincerity. </p>
<p>He knows he won’t convince a veteran criminal just through words. But The Spider nods slowly and accepts Jacob’s pledge. He knows he’ll just have to show him through his actions. </p>
<p>“I will say, he already has a lot of trust in you. I haven’t seen him act like that with someone ever,” The Spider murmurs and Jacob flushes. “He’s got good judgment. I’ve made sure of that.” He glances over his shoulder then looks back at Jacob. “So, I’ll keep an eye out for you too, Jacob Bae.” He sticks a hand out and Jacob eagerly accepts the handshake. Kevin picks that exact moment to walk up. </p>
<p>“Oh god, I hope you didn’t sign your life away just now, Jake,” Kevin says, wide-eyed. </p>
<p>“No, I just have a new customer. I’ll let Kevin figure out when you come back. Just bring three for the first round,” The Spider effortlessly slips back into his aloof tone. Jacob nods, also now excited at the prospect of getting his guns modified. </p>
<p>The Spider actually walks them out and to the car. Once they shut the trunk, Jacob gives him another firm handshake and goes to start the car; he wants to give them a moment alone. </p>
<p>Kevin turns to his Uncle, preparing for a berating. </p>
<p>He’s surprised when instead, he grasps his forearm and pulls him into a brief hug. They both pull back quickly but his Uncle keeps his hand on his arm. </p>
<p>“Don’t die quite yet, Hyungseo,” he murmurs. Kevin sucks in a breath and nods. His Uncle has worked hard to build up his unapproachable personality, especially with his history, but Kevin is more than aware that he serves as a soft spot for the wanted criminal. And he knows his Uncle constantly worries about him; his recent actions must’ve scared him because he only uses his Korean name when he’s feeling especially sentimental. </p>
<p>“Creaker is all good people,” Kevin gently explains. “We’re really happy to be with them now.” </p>
<p>“Anything is better than that fucking EN-Net,” the old man mutters and Kevin just laughs. As they pull away, his Uncle stops him. </p>
<p>“Jacob Bae,” he mumbles. Kevin freezes and feels his face start to flush. </p>
<p>“I don’t even know where to start,” Kevin stammers. His Uncle shakes his head, cutting him off. </p>
<p>“You look happy with him,” he says slowly. “I trust that you have good judgment and know how to keep your,” his Uncle pauses and makes a face. “Keep your heart safe,” he rushes out, obviously not enthused to have to say that. His expression is pinched and he doesn’t leave any time for Kevin to comment. “So anyway,” he sighs. “Let me know if he hurts you so I can kill him.” Kevin bursts out laughing, shaking his head as his Uncle releases him. </p>
<p>“He’s kind of amazing,” Kevin says quietly before his Uncle leaves. “And Uncle.” The elder raises a brow, listening.</p>
<p>“I can kill the men who hurt me myself,” Kevin winks. </p>
<p>And that cracks a smile from The Spider. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>While Jacob waits in the car, he examines the gun from The Spider. As he checks the magazine, a slip of paper falls out; he unrolls it and then lets out a loud laugh. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Take care of him. I’m watching you. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> If you hurt him, I kill you. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em> - The Spider </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Once again, I Am So Sorry this was Long™ but thank you so much for reading! On top of this being long, real life has been tiring so I'm really thankful for those who are keeping up with this! And thank you to those who comment, I'll get better at replying in a more timely manner!! wahh! Hopefully, next update will be a little faster cuz I'm not trying to write another 8k chapter lmfao</p>
<p>Plugging that twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/onlymildinterst">@onlymildinterst</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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